This book explains essential features of special education that are important for interdisciplinary communication and effective teaching. Part I introduces the reader to historical and instructional foundations of music in special education. Major topics and developments in the field of special education, important terminology, and curricular issues are covered in Part I. Part II introduces the characteristics of students with specific disabilities, the educational effects of these disabilities, appropriate adaptations, as well as music education and music therapy approaches used with students who have these disabilities. The accompanying DVD includes segments on various music classrooms that include students with sensory disabilities (vision and hearing), cognitive disabilities, behavior disorders, multiple disabilities, and physical disabilities. Included in these segments are illustrations of classroom instruction as well as interviews with the music teachers and their students. Also included in the DVD are two segments on music teachers with disabilities.