PEARSON EDUCATION Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools

For introductory courses in Special Education. The authors of this introductory text have a vision for special education―to equip general and special education teachers with the principles, values and teaching practices that support the education of the majority of students with disabilities in general education programs. Beginning with a thorough review of the principles that undergird IDEA and the process of nondiscriminatory evaluation, the authors explore the teaching and collaborative processes necessary for implementing best practices and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997. Using a categorical approach, the authors highlight real students with real disabilities and use their stories as a vehicle for describing the characteristics, causes, and challenges that people with exceptionalities face and that both general and special education teachers must consider when making decisions about how, where, and what to teach. From the Back Cover No other textbook provides a better introduction to the people and relationships that are an important part of special education. A Principled Approach: Strategies and interventions are based on six core values for working with students with exceptionalities: envisioning great expectations; enhancing positive contributions; building on strengths; acting on choices; expanding relationships; and ensuring full citizenship. Real People, Real Issues: Every student in each chapter's opening vignette is a real person. Within each chapter as well as in the My Voice and Making a Difference boxes, real people's stories are integrated to provide additional insight into the exceptional lives of students with disabilities, their families, and their teachers. A Focus on Inclusion: While acknowledging the very real challenges of inclusion, the authors believe that the great majority of students with disabilities can receive an appropriate education in general education classrooms if programs and classrooms are designed for individualized instruction, if supplementary supports and services are available, and if educators are prepared to work in inclusive environments. This book prepares educators to make inclusion work. Practical Ideas for Today's Classrooms: Newly organized chapters spotlight curricular goals and teaching methods, which are demonstrated in the Programs in Practice section of each categorical chapter. Into Practice boxes also share best practices for inclusive education. The Most Current Coverage: New coverage of important topics such as behavior management, assistive technology, and universal design as well as an increased focus on collaboration and early intervention. Hundreds of new references and resources have been added. Integrated Multimedia: State-of-the-art topical coverage is matched with new, integrated technology features: New Multimedia My Voice, Multimedia Making a Difference, and Multimedia Into Practice feature boxes have links to the companion website and ABC/Prentice Hall video library. Six new segments have been added to the ABC/Prentice Hall video library, for a total of 22 current and issues-based segments. An upgraded companion website, located at http://www.prenhall.com/turnbull, has valuable resources for both students and instructors. New companion website margin notes direct readers to online links where they can find more information about chapter topics. New Into Practice with Technology feature boxes appear in each categorical chapter.