Part Two deals with high incidence exceptionalities (those which include

more than 1 percent of the population). This section begins with a chapter on
Early Intervention addressing children birth–fi ve years of age. Part Three addresses
students who make-up less than 1 percent of the general population. They will
appear more rarely in the general classroom but their needs may be even more
pressing and demanding of the attention of school personnel.
Chapter Revisions in the Twelfth Edition
We have revised and updated each of the chapters in this twelfth edition. Here
are the highlights of these chapters:
Chapter 1, Educating the Exceptional Children. An emphasis is placed on
the family and the interaction of siblings and parents related to the child with
special needs. We begin a discussion on the interaction of the exceptional child
with the education system that will continue in each of the chapters.
Chapter 2, Exceptional Children and Social Institutions, Government,
Schools and the Courts. Included here are discussions of IDEA 2004 and the
No Child Left Behind legislation and its effect on children with special needs.
The role played by a number of court decisions and their impact on the children
with special needs and the reorganization of the schools is also discussed. The
continuing impact of the policy of inclusion in the public school system is presented.
Chapter 3, Early Intervention Supports and Services. Early intervention
has seen the rapid development of preschool programs for both exceptional
children and children of typical development. It is now widely accepted by
both professionals and the general public that education in the early years is
needed for subsequent development. This chapter addresses how early intervention
supports and services can meet the needs of young children and their
families.
Chapter 4, Children with Learning Disabilities. The largest group of children
in special education are those with learning disabilities. The distinctive nature
of the individual’s needs creates educational challenges for the teacher. The
RTI model stressed in this text emerged out of concern for children with learning
disabilities and the shortcomings of historical defi nitions. The RTI model also
serves as a guide to planning effective educational responses to meet the needs of
students with learning diffi culties. The information-processing model presents a
method to review the student’s needs and to determine strategies to meet these
needs.
Chapter 5, Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
(IDD). Even the name mental retardation has been changed to intellectual and development
disabilities, as has the name of the professional associations and journal
associated with the condition. The reasons for these changes are discussed as well
as the strategies to be applied in the education setting. Appropriate transition
services to help the graduate into the community are discussed.
Chapter 6, Children with Emotional and Behavior Disorders. Children
with emotional and behavioral disorders have been given special public attention
partly due to aggressive outbursts in the community that have highlighted
what can happen without effective early and continuing attention. Aggressive
behavior does not go away with increasing age and schools are attempting to
cope with approaches like ‘positive behavior supports,’ realizing that punishment
is only a short term solution. The issues of emotional disturbance and
special topics such as suicide are also examined.