One aim of this article is to shift mindsets from the traditional identification of written language abilities that are "missing" in students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) to writing assessment as the discovery of more complex language strengths foundational to success across disciplines. The multiple language-levels (MLL)…

The U.S. Department of Education, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, underscores every child's right to integrate, receive support, and fully participate in school life. The problem is that significant disparities exist in reading growth scores between students with disabilities taught in special-education resource settings and…

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) advocates for the full participation of all children and youth with disabilities and/or identified as gifted and talented in educational programming that promotes positive academic, social emotional, and adaptive/independent living outcomes and sets the stage for lifelong success. This position statement…

Introduction: Crisis intervention aims to prevent hospital admissions by providing rapid assessment and intensive support in the community. Interest is growing in the potential of crisis care for people with intellectual disabilities who often have co-occurring psychiatric disorders and challenging behaviors. They are at high risk for admission to…

Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (MO SW-PBS), with support from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), has provided training and support to build local capacity and positively impact student outcomes. Numerous years of descriptive data and a recent peer-reviewed research article both show the effects of…

While many historically contingent barriers to individual liberty have been deconstructed, I argue that current education policy continues to maintain a discriminatory educational milieu that constitutes individuals as dis/abled. I describe this current government formulation of educational spaces as Closed Policy. Various contingent environmental…

Background: Previous national and international research has investigated potential patterns of SEN identification, in which there may be overrepresentation of males, individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and pupils attending schools in economically disadvantaged areas. Aims: The aim of the current study is to link administrative…

Preschool classrooms serve children of varying abilities, including those who may benefit from social communication intervention. Research supports the use of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) to effectively increase the social communication skills of young children. Yet, little is known about preschool teachers'…

State law requires the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to annually report on the status of implementation of special education and related services for children with disabilities. This includes the number of children identified with disabilities and the number of identified children with disabilities receiving services. The Department…

Our study is the first to provide statistics on opioid use among U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applicants. We use an innovative machine-learning method to identify opioids in open-ended text fields in SSDI administrative data. We find that more than 30% of applicants between 2007 and 2017 reported using one or more opioids, a…

U.S. state agencies are charged with addressing the service and support needs of residents with and without disabilities. Undertaking this task effectively requires having familiarity with the array of available disability-related resources and programs--both within and beyond one's own agency. We asked 212 staff from 13 state agencies about their…

Background: It is assumed that language impairments post-stroke do not show much improvement after the phase of spontaneous recovery, especially in the chronic stage. Several studies have reported language recovery and factors influencing it in the acute stages of stroke. There is limited literature focusing on language recovery in the chronic…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities in Flanders (Belgium) often rely on their direct support professionals (DSPs) to engage in meaningful activities. While structured approaches exist to guide engagement, limited insight is available into the specific support DSPs need in practice. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was…

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have persistent language difficulties in complex syntax. To date, few studies have examined the effectiveness of syntactic training focusing on complex grammar, with no existing studies having been done in French. In English, the SHAPE CODING (SC) system, which combines shapes and colors…

Background: This study explores communication partners' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in the design, planning and use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with individuals with severe/profound intellectual disability. Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Purposive sampling, data collection and…