During the 2008-2009 academic school year, nearly a million (956,914) students were reported by school districts as being homeless, a 41% increase over just a 2-year period year. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of national legislative efforts to address the education of children who are homeless, with a particular…

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of parents having a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Interviews with 12 parents were audio-recorded and subsequently analyzed to reveal the following themes: (1) Diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder was not confirmed until years and/or several…

Given the negative outcomes associated with problem behavior and the heightened risk for children with disabilities to display problematic behavior, the current study implemented hierarchical linear modeling to explore the growth trajectories of problem behavior in a nationally representative sample of preschool children with disabilities. Results…

In a major address and policy white paper on education, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney proposed to allow students enrolled in special education programs to use the federal dollars tied to their disability to attend a public, charter, or (when permitted by state law) private school of their choice. The basic principle behind Romney's plan--that…

Purpose: In most cases, caregiver questionnaires are completed by mothers and seldom by fathers. Although parents tend to have moderate to high congruence, some studies suggest that differences between the mothers' and the fathers' answers can complicate diagnostic decision-making. The aim of this study was to determine mother-father response…

Several screening instruments for ASD in young children were developed during the last decades. Only few studies compare the discriminative power of these instruments in the same sample. In particular comparisons of instruments that use different informants are scarce in young children. The current study compared the discriminant ability of the…

The benefits of early intervention for very young children with autism are now well established. Hand and hand with these interventions is the necessity of psychometrically sound diagnostic tools. Not only should these tools be instrumental in differentiating developmentally delayed and other at risk infants. These measures should also be…

The present study analyzes data of the governmental reported general population and population of persons with disabilities from 2002 to 2009, to describe the disability prevalence and to test the overtime change with particular focused on the geographic differences in Taiwan. In average, the disability prevalence was 42.06% (range = 31.06%-80.04%…

In this study, we tested the outcomes of access to a response to intervention (RtI) model in kindergarten or in first grade on end-of-Grade-2 reading achievement and placement in special education. Across five schools, 214 students who began having access to Tier 2 intervention in kindergarten or first grade were compared in Grades 1 and 2 with…

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is responsible for approximately 41,051 American Indian and Alaska Native children at 183 elementary and secondary schools on 64 reservations in 23 states. The educational services the BIE provides is vital to current and future students who are their tribes' future. This report presents Special Education…

The Response to Intervention (RTI) Essential Components Integrity Rubric and the RTI Essential Components Integrity Worksheet are for use by individuals responsible for monitoring the school-level fidelity of Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation. They may also be used by schools for self-appraisal; however, they were not designed for…

This study explores how young people participate in the construction of their learning disabilities and how the experience impacts their self-concept. None of the interviewees in the study participated in the Identification Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) meetings conducted in Ontario. The interviewees did participate in a variety of other…

The Child Development Institute, a nonprofit early intervention program in California, conducted a needs assessment which revealed a community that was receiving little support for infants and toddlers. There was virtually no enrollment in Part C early intervention services despite ranking high on environmental risk factors. This article describes…

Research continues to try and pinpoint the etiological role of particular genes and brain structure in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), but despite a host of biological, genetic and neuropsychological research, the symptom profile of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are not yet linked to etiological theory. Debate continues around whether…

When the author adopted her son, she was an early childhood educator with a Master's Degree who had taught young children for eight years and directed a child care and infant-toddler center for seven. She thought she knew something about children. Actually, she had a great deal to learn. It took years for her to learn about his needs. He slowly…