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Brief Contents
PART ONE Special Education: Fundamentals and Processes

CHAPTER 1 An Overview of Special Education (co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Stephen B. Richards,
and Megan L. Lyons) 1 ©Realistic
Reflections
CHAPTER 2 The Special Education Process: From Initial Identification to the Delivery of Services
(co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Stephen B. Richards, and Megan L. Lyons) 28
CHAPTER 3 School, Family, and Community Collaboration 55

PART TWO IDEA High-Prevalence Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Stretch
CHAPTER 4 Students with Learning Disabilities 84 Photography/Getty
Images RF
CHAPTER 5 Students with Intellectual Disabilities 126
CHAPTER 6 Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders 164
CHAPTER 7 Students with Communication Disorders 202

PART THREE IDEA Low-Incidence Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Zuma Press,
CHAPTER 8 Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing 238 Inc./Alamy
CHAPTER 9 Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision 270
CHAPTER 10 Students with Physical or Health Disabilities 306
CHAPTER 11 Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders 339
CHAPTER 12 Students with Severe Disabilities (co-authored by Stephen B. Richards and Mary-Kate Sableski) 378

PART FOUR Other Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Marty
CHAPTER 13 Students Who Are At Risk: Early Identification and Intervention 410 Heitner/The
Image Works
CHAPTER 14 Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 442
CHAPTER 15 S
 tudents Who Are Gifted and Talented (co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Lisa A. Finnegan,
and Katie M. Miller) 474

Appendixes
TEXT APPENDIX: Sample Individualized Education Program A-1
ONLINE APPENDIX: Lesson Plans, Classroom Suggestions, and Instructional Resources

vii
Contents

Preface xiv

PART ONE Special Education:


Fundamentals and Processes
©Realistic Reflections

CHAPTER 1 An Overview of Special CHAPTER 2 The Special Education Process:


Education 1 From Initial Identification to the Delivery
of Services 28
Who Are Exceptional Students? 3
How Many Exceptional Students Are There? 4 How Are Exceptional Students Initially Identified
as Having a Possible Exceptionality? 30
What Are Special Education and Related Services? 7
Initial Identification of Infants, Toddlers,
Special Education 7 and Preschool Children 30
Related Services 9 Initial Identification of School-Aged Students 31
What Is the History of Special Education? 12 What Are the Prereferral Process
Early History 13 and the Referral Process? 31
The 17th through 19th Centuries 13 The Prereferral Process 32
The 20th Century 14 The Referral Process 38
How Have Litigation and Legislation Affected How Do Students Become Eligible
Special Education? 15 for Special Education? 39
Early Court Cases 15 The Use of Disability Labels 40
Early Legislation Affecting Special Education 16 Evaluation Procedures 41
Post–PL 94-142 Legislation 18
How Is an Exceptional Student’s
Current Legislation: Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (PL 108-446) 19 Educational Program Developed? 44
The Individualized Education Program 44
What Are Some Current and Future Issues in Special
The Individualized Family Service Plan 46
Education? 24
Decisions about Program Placement 48
Overrepresentation of Students from Culturally
or Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds 24
Education and Transition of Infants and Toddlers 25
Role of the General Education Teacher 26
viii
Conflict Management 69
CHAPTER 3 School, Family, and Community Increasing Involvement of Diverse Families 70
Collaboration 55
What Are Best Practices for Collaboration
What Is Collaboration? 57 among School Personnel? 71
A Brief History of Collaboration 59 Co-teaching 71
Key Concepts of Collaboration 60 Role of Administrators in Collaboration 73
Barriers to Collaboration 63 Role of Paraprofessionals in Collaboration 75
Role of Teams in Collaboration 64 Role of Related Services Personnel in Collaboration 76

What Are Best Practices for Collaboration between What Are Best Practices for Collaboration
Schools and Families? 65 between Schools and Communities? 78
Increasing Student Involvement 66 Best Practices for Collaboration in Early Childhood 78
Increasing Family Involvement 67 Best Practices for Collaboration for Transition
Increasing Sibling Involvement 68 to Adult Living 79

PART TWO IDEA High-


Prevalence Exceptionalities:
Foundations and Instruction
©Stretch Photography/Getty Images RF

CHAPTER 4 Students with Learning CHAPTER 5 Students with Intellectual


Disabilities 84 Disabilities 126

What Are the Foundations of Learning Disabilities? 86 What Are the Foundations of Intellectual Disabilities? 128
A Brief History of Learning Disabilities 86 A Brief History of Intellectual Disabilities 128
Definitions of Learning Disabilities 88 Definitions of Intellectual Disabilities 129
Prevalence of Learning Disabilities 89 Prevalence of Intellectual Disabilities 132

What Are the Causes and Characteristics What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Intellectual
of Learning Disabilities? 90 Disabilities? 133
Causes of Learning Disabilities 90 Causes of Intellectual Disabilities 133
Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities 92 Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities 135

How Are Students with Learning How Are Students with Intellectual
Disabilities Identified? 97 Disabilities Identified? 139
Response to Intervention 98 Intelligence Testing 139
The Use of Standardized Testing 100 Adaptive Behavior Skills Assessment 140
Academic Skills Assessment 140
What and How Do I Teach Students
with Learning Disabilities? 101 What and How Do I Teach
Instructional Content 102 Students with Intellectual
Instructional Procedures 106 Disabilities? 141
Instructional
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Content 141
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities? 114 Instructional
The Instructional Environment 114 Procedures 147
Instructional Technology 117

What Are Some Considerations for the


General Education Teacher? 120 ©Andy Dean Photography/
Shutterstock

ix
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Students with Intellectual Disabilities? 150 Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders? 191
The Instructional Environment 150 The Instructional Environment 192
Instructional Technology 154 Instructional Technology 194

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Teacher? 157 Teacher? 195

CHAPTER 6 Students with Emotional CHAPTER 7 Students with Communication


or Behavioral Disorders 164 Disorders 202

What Are the Foundations of Emotional and Behavioral What Are the Foundations of Communication
Disorders? 166 Disorders? 204
A Brief History of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 166 A Brief History of Communication Disorders 204
Definitions of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 167 Definitions of Communication Disorders 205
Classification of Individuals with Emotional or Behavioral Prevalence of Communication Disorders 209
Disorders 168
What Are the Causes and Characteristics
Prevalence of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 169
of Communication Disorders? 210
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Emotional Causes of Communication Disorders 210
and Behavioral Disorders? 170 Characteristics of Students with Communication Disorders 212
Causes of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 171
How Are Students with Communication Disorders
Characteristics of Students with Emotional or Behavioral
Disorders 171 Identified? 216
Identification of Language Disorders 216
How Are Students with Emotional or Behavioral
Identification of Speech Disorders 218
Disorders Identified? 173
Evaluation of Students Who Are Linguistically Diverse 218
Observation 174
Behavior Rating Scales 174 What and How Do I Teach Students with Communication
Behavior Assessment Systems 175 Disorders? 220
Personality Inventories 175 Instructional Content 221

Projective Tests 175 Instructional Procedures 222

What and How Do I Teach Students with Emotional What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
or Behavioral Disorders? 176 Students with Communication Disorders? 226
Instructional Content 176 The Instructional Environment 226

Instructional Procedures 182 Instructional Technology 230

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education


Teacher? 232

PART THREE IDEA Low-Incidence


Exceptionalities: Foundations and
Instruction
©Zuma Press, Inc./Alamy
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Deafness
CHAPTER 8 Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing? 244
or Hard of Hearing 238
Causes of Hearing Losses 245
What Are the Foundations of Deafness and Hard Characteristics of Deaf Students and Those
Who Are Hard of Hearing 246
of Hearing? 240
A Brief History of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 240
Definitions of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 242
Prevalence of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 244

x
How Are Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Identified? 250
CHAPTER 10 Students with Physical or Health
Disabilities 306
Identification of Newborns and Young Children Who Are
Deaf or Hard of Hearing 251
What Are the Foundations of Physical
Identification of School-Aged Students Who Are
and Health Disabilities? 308
Deaf or Hard of Hearing 251
A Brief History of Physical and Health Disabilities 308
Assessment of the Effect on Educational Performance 251
Definitions of Physical and Health Disabilities 309
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Deaf Prevalence of Physical and Health Disabilities 309
or Hard of Hearing? 252
Instructional Content 253
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Physical
and Health Disabilities? 310
Instructional Procedures 256
Orthopedic Impairments 310
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching Other Health Impairments 313
Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing? 257 Traumatic Brain Injury 317
The Instructional Environment 257
Instructional Technology 260
How Are Students with Physical or Health Disabilities
Identified? 320
What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Identification of Orthopedic Impairments 321
Teacher? 264 Identification of Other Health Impairments 321
Identification of Traumatic Brain Injury 322
CHAPTER 9 Students Who Are Blind
What and How Do I Teach Students with Physical
or Have Low Vision 270
or Health Disabilities? 323
What Are the Foundations of Blindness and Low Instructional Content 323
Vision? 272 Instructional Procedures 325
A Brief History of Blindness and Low Vision 272 What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Definitions of Blindness and Low Vision 274 Students with Physical or Health Disabilities? 329
Prevalence of Blindness and Low Vision 276 The Instructional Environment 329

What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Blindness Instructional Technology 330
and Low Vision? 276 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Causes of Blindness and Low Vision 276 Teacher? 334
Characteristics of Students Who Are Blind or Have Low
Vision 278
CHAPTER 11 Students with Autism Spectrum
How Are Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision Disorders 339
Identified? 281
Identification of Blindness or Low Vision in Infants What Are the Foundations of Autism
and Toddlers 282 Spectrum Disorders? 341
Identification of Blindness or Low Vision in School-Aged A Brief History of Autism Spectrum Disorders 341
Children 282 Definitions of Autism Spectrum Disorders 342
Comprehensive Assessment 283 Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders 344
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Blind What Are the Causes and Characteristics
or Have Low Vision? 286 of Autism Spectrum Disorders? 345
Instructional Content 286 Causes of Autism Spectrum
Instructional Procedures 292 Disorders 345
Characteristics of Autism
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Spectrum Disorders 347
Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision? 295
The Instructional Environment 295
Instructional Technology 298

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education


Teacher? 299

©Thomas M Perkins/Shutterstock

xi
How Are Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Classification of Individuals with Severe Disabilities 382
Identified? 352 Prevalence of Severe Disabilities 383
Early Screening 352
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Severe
Diagnosis 352
Disabilities? 383
What and How Do I Teach Students with Autism Causes of Severe Disabilities 383
Spectrum Disorders? 354 Characteristics of Students with Severe Disabilities 384
Instructional Content 354
How Are Students with Severe Disabilities
Instructional Procedures 360
Identified? 388
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching Assessment Strategies for Identification 389
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders? 365 Identification of Individuals with Deaf-Blindness 390
The Instructional Environment 366
What and How Do I Teach Students with Severe
Instructional Technology 369
Disabilities? 391
What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Instructional Content 391
Teacher? 371 Instructional Procedures 396

What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching


CHAPTER 12 Students with Severe Students with Severe Disabilities? 400
Disabilities 378 The Instructional Environment 400
Instructional Technology 402
What Are the Foundations of Severe Disabilities? 380
A Brief History of Severe Disabilities 380 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Definitions of Severe Disabilities 381 Teacher? 404

PART FOUR Other Exceptionalities:


Foundations and Instruction

©Marty Heitner/The Image Works

What Are Factors That Place Children At Risk? 416


CHAPTER 13 Students Who Are At Risk: Early
Conditions of Established Risk 416
Identification and Intervention 410
Conditions of Biological/Medical Risk 417
What Are the Foundations of At-Risk Conditions? 413 Conditions of Environmental Risk 417
A Brief History of At-Risk Conditions 413 Protective Factors 421
The Definition of At Risk 414 Profile of an At-Risk Child 421
Prevalence of Students Who Are At Risk 415 How Are Children Who Are At Risk Identified? 423
The Identification of Infants and Toddlers At Risk 423
The Identification of Young Children At Risk 424

What and How Do I Teach Students


©Tony Freeman/PhotoEdit
Who Are At Risk? 426
Instructional Content 426
Instructional Procedures 428

What Are Other Instructional Considerations


for Students Who Are At Risk? 433
The Home Environment 433
The Instructional Environment 434
Instructional Technology 435

What Are Some Considerations for the


General Education Teacher? 436
xii
How Are Students Who Are Gifted and Talented
CHAPTER 14 Students with Attention Deficit/ Identified? 485
Hyperactivity Disorder 442
Identification of Preschool Children with Gifts or Talents 486
What Are the Foundations of Attention Deficit/ Identification of School-Aged Students with Gifts
or Talents 486
Hyperactivity Disorder? 444
Identification of Underrepresented Groups with Gifts
A Brief History of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 445
or Talents 488
The Definition of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 445
Alternative Approaches to Identification 490
Prevalence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 447
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Gifted
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Attention and Talented? 491
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? 448
Acceleration and Enrichment 492
Causes of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 448
Instructional Content 494
Characteristics of Students with Attention
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences 495
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 449
Instructional Procedures 496
How Are Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder Identified? 452 What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Students
Who Are Gifted and Talented? 500
Interviews 453
The Instructional Environment 500
Questionnaires and Checklists 454
Instructional Technology 503
Rating Scales 454
Academic Testing 454 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Direct Observation 455 Teacher? 504

What and How Do I Teach Students with Attention


Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? 455 APPENDIXES
Instructional Content 455 TEXT APPENDIX: Sample Individualized
Instructional Procedures 458 Education Program A-1

What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching ONLINE APPENDIX: Lesson Plans, Classroom Suggestions,
and Instructional Resources
Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder? 463 GLOSSARY G-1
The Instructional Environment 463
REFERENCES R-1
Instructional Technology 466
NAME INDEX I-1
What Are Some Considerations for the General
SUBJECT INDEX I-13
Education Teacher? 467

CHAPTER 15 Students Who Are Gifted


and Talented 474

What Are the Foundations of Gifts and Talents? 476


A Brief History of Gifts and Talents 476
Definitions of Gifts and Talents 477
Prevalence of Gifts and Talents 479

What Are the Causes and Characteristics


of Gifts and Talents? 479
Causes of Gifts and Talents 480
Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted
and Talented 481

©Syracuse Newspapers/Li-Hua
Lan/The Image Works

xiii
Preface

We are excited to offer you the third edition of Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for
the 21st Century. The field of education has evolved into one that requires collaboration
among families, communities, and schools. Within schools, special and general educators
must collaborate to be effective and efficient in teaching and responding to the demands
of new standards, statewide assessments, and calls for education reform. In this third
edition of Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century, we have refined
and updated our content to reflect the role of the special educator while continuing to
address the role of the general educator in serving special populations.
The third edition includes updated references and photographs, changes to the con-
tent emphases and discussions to reflect current thought and practice, and additions/
deletions of tables and figures to also reflect current thought. The following section, New
Additions to the Third Edition, outlines more specifics. We would like to stress that this
text includes information from DSM-5, the latest from the AAIDD, and other important
publications and references that define and influence the field of special education. We
are grateful to the instructors and students who have given us their feedback on the text.
Their classroom experiences inspired suggested refinements that we incorporated
throughout the third edition.

New Additions to the Third Edition


Each chapter of the book has been rewritten and revised to reflect current research.
References and photographs have been updated throughout. The content has been
refined for clarity and consistency. Case studies have been updated as needed to reflect
current practices.
Chapter 1: New research and figures reflect the 38th Annual Report to Congress
on IDEA.
Chapter 2: Content has been reorganized slightly to reflect Response to Interven-
tion (RTI) research.
Chapter 3: Person-centered planning information has been updated to reflect
­current practice. The co-teaching models have been revised and updated to reflect
current practice. The interagency agreement section has been removed to more
closely match the actual practice of most teachers.
Chapter 4: Information on instructional practices has been expanded a bit to
reflect the emphasis on STEM programs. The practices section has also been
updated to reflect the ever-increasing focus on access to the general education
­curriculum.
Chapter 5: The terminology has been changed to intellectual disabilities from mental
retardation (except as when historically appropriate). The definition and identifica-
tion procedures have been changed to reflect the AAIDD’s most recent publica-
tions. The supports model of service delivery has been updated as well. The
preventive measures section now reflects more current thinking in the field. The
academic content and instructional technology sections have been expanded to
reflect the more current focus on inclusion while maintaining the need for func-
tional skills and community-based instruction.
Chapter 6: The definition and identification procedures have been changed to
reflect the DSM-5 revisions and a more current focus on evaluation. The instruc-
tional procedures sections have been updated.

xiv
Chapter 7: The content has been updated to reflect the changes in delivery of ser-
vices options.
Chapter 8: The characteristics information has been updated to reflect more recent
research. The environmental arrangements section has also been updated.
Chapter 9: Both the national agenda and expanded core curriculum information
includes more recent changes. The assessment section has been updated to include
current practice. The assistive technology section has been updated with outdated
material deleted.
Chapter 10: The Individualized Health Care plans section has been revised to
better reflect current practice.
Chapter 11: All of the foundation section has been rewritten to reflect changes
made in the DSM-5. Outdated tables also have been deleted to reflect these
changes. The practices section has been updated to reflect more emphasis on
accessing the general education curriculum. Instructional technology has been
updated and expanded.
Chapter 12: In general, the overall coverage in this chapter has been reduced to
better reflect reviewers’ preferences. The levels of support discussion has been
updated to reflect the new AAIDD publications. The table on various syndromes
has been deleted, and readers are referred to the National Institutes of Health
­website for detailed information of medical conditions and syndromes. Accessing
the general education curriculum discussion has been revised and updated.
­Information on alternative assessments has been minimized, as the procedures
vary from state to state.
Chapter 13: All prevalence and risk factors statistics have been updated to reflect
newer definitions and trends. Assessment tools have been updated. Information that
was duplicative has been removed. The skills in early literacy identified by the
National Early Literacy Panel (NELP), which have replaced the National Reading
Panel skills as the areas on which to focus with this age group, are discussed.
Chapter 14: The definition section and tables in the foundations section have
incorporated the changes made in the DSM-5. The instructional procedures sec-
tions have been updated.
Chapter 15: Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) material has been added to
expand coverage of research on gifted and talented students. Bloom’s Taxonomy
has been updated to the newer revision.

An Emphasis on What Teachers Need to


Know and Be Able to Do
CH A P T ER OU T LI NE
The new edition of Exceptional Students provides
F O U N DAT I O N S P R AC T I C E
balanced coverage of the foundations of exception- What Are the Foundations of Learning Disabilities? What and How Do I Teach Students with Learning

alities that future teachers need to know to under- A Brief History of Learning Disabilities
Definitions of Learning Disabilities
Disabilities?
Instructional Content

stand their students and responsibilities, and the Prevalence of Learning Disabilities Types of Content Knowledge
Areas of Instructional Content

practical information they need to effectively teach


What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Transition Planning
Learning Disabilities?
Instructional Procedures
Causes of Learning Disabilities
their students. Although the general topics Characteristics of Students with Learning
Disabilities
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities?

addressed are similar to those of other textbooks, How Are Students with Learning Disabilities
The Instructional Environment
Instructional Technology
Identified?
coverage of these topics is enhanced within each Response to Intervention What Are Some Considerations for the General
Education Teacher?
chapter of Exceptional Students, third edition.
The Use of Standardized Testing

xv
IN TRODUC IN G J USTIN
Justin is a 7-year-old boy who is cur- assignments. When Justin does do his responded favorably to the strategies,
rently in the second grade. His mother work, he loses interest part way through but Justin didn’t. At that point, Mr.
reports that she had a difficult preg- and usually does not finish it. When he Mayer worked directly with Justin for an
Coverage of practical information related to instructional content, instructional pro-
cedures, the instructional environment, and instructional technology has been expanded
from its traditional treatment so that each chapter provides equal amounts of founda-
tional and practical material. In addition, two topics crucial for future teachers to under-
stand in order to best support their students—collaboration and students at risk—are
stand-alone chapters.

Foundational Information for Understanding


Exceptionalities
The first half of each exceptionality chapter is devoted to the foundational information
about exceptionalities that future teachers need to know. This section discusses the
history, definitions, prevalence, causes, characteristics, and identification procedures
of the specific exceptionality. Devoting the first half of the chapter to foundational
content provides future teachers with the groundwork they will need to make informed
instructional decisions in the classroom.
Foundational coverage is also highlighted through the An Important Event feature,
which presents a key event or the publication of seminal research that has helped shape
special education today. Reflection questions, designed to help students consider their
opinion or the importance of the event, accompany each discussion. Examples of impor-
tant events include the founding of the Council for Exceptional Children, publication of
Wang and Birch’s proposal for the use of the Adaptive Learning Environment Model,
and publication of the results of the Carolina Abecedarian Project. Even though Excep-
tional Students emphasizes practical applications, we believe it is vital for students to
understand how special education has evolved and to consider their place in its continu-
ingOU
CHAP TER development.
TLI N E Foundational content also supports teacher education candidates in
passing state licensure exams.
F OUN DATI O N S PRACTICE
What Are the Foundations of Deafness and Hard of What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Deaf or
Hearing? Hard of Hearing?
A Brief History of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Definitions of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Prevalence of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Practical Information to Guide Classroom
Instructional Content
Content Areas
Literacy

Planning and Instruction


Deaf Studies
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Deafness
Transition Planning
and Hard of Hearing?
Instructional Procedures
Causes of Hearing Losses
Characteristics of Deaf Students and Those Who Are Hard What Are Other Instructional Considerations for
of Hearing Teaching Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
The second The Instructionalhalf of each exceptionality chapter provides instructional and pedagogical
Environment
How Are Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Identified? information future teachers need to know to effectively teach students. This part of the
The Least Restrictive Environment
Student and Family Preferences
Identification of Newborns and Young Children Who Are
Deaf or Hard of Hearing chapter is organized around instructional content, instructional procedures, the instruc-
Environmental Arrangements
Instructional Technology
Identification of School-Aged Students Who Are Deaf or
Hard of Hearing tional What environment,
Are Some Considerations for and instructional technology, as well as specific considerations for
the General
Assessment of the Effect on Educational Performance Education Teacher?
the general education teacher. In addition,
the general education section introduces top-
ics that are important when planning and
I N TRO DUC IN G A LLISON implementing instruction for students with
Allison is a 6-year-old girl who has just Allison uses hearing aids that make it monitored and assessed frequently, can special needs within the general education
started the first grade. She has a hearing possible for her to learn using her audi-
loss resulting from repeated and severe tory channel. Her speech and language
be developed in her general education
class. Also, an audiologist will provide
classroom. Practical strategies are also high-
ear infections in infancy and throughout skills are delayed, likely the result of not consultation to Allison’s parents, teach- lighted in the following features:
her early childhood. The infections hearing adequately in early childhood. ers, and speech and language pathologist
resulted in a bilateral conductive hear- Her parents are concerned about her lit- to ensure her hearing aids are working
ing loss. Her loss is mild to moderate— eracy skills development as she begins properly, are being maintained, and are
she does not hear clearly until sounds
reach a 40 decibel level. She experiences
school. Because she qualified for early
intervention, the school and Allison’s par-
being used as effectively as possible. ■
Chapter-opening Case Study
this hearing loss across all frequencies ents developed an IEP for and Revisit Opportunities
of sound detectable by the human ear. her. She receives speech
Prior to entering school, Allison and language services regu-
Each chapter begins with a scenario describ-
received early intervention services at larly. An itinerant teacher for
home from an audiologist and early students who are deaf or ing a student with special needs in the con-
childhood special educator. Because of
her frequent illnesses, she only sporadi-
hard of hearing provides con-
sultation to her general educa-
text of his or her educational experience.
cally attended a center-based preschool tion teacher. The team did not Throughout the chapter, readers are pre-
program. With time, medical interven-
tions greatly reduced the infections and
feel they should “pull out” Alli-
son for resource room services if
sented with related questions called Revisits,
their severity. her literacy skills, which will be which ask students to apply key concepts
©Carmen Martínez Banús/E+/Getty Images
they have just learned to an actual situation.

xvi
These cases tie the chapter together, allow for contextual learning, and offer an instruc-
tor several additional topics for discussion. For example, in Chapter 8, the reader is
introduced to Allison, a student with a hearing loss. Later in the chapter, the reader
is asked whether Allison would be considered deaf or hard of hearing, what issues she
might have with her identity, and how her teacher might plan for accommodations
during literacy instruction.

Classroom Suggestions Classroom Suggestion Tips for Software Selection

As in the first and second editions, the emphasis on When selecting software, make sure: There are small increments between levels.

practical classroom suggestions and strategies is main-


Content is free of gender, cultural, and racial stereotypes. Only a limited number of incorrect responses are allowed
per problem.
Content is interesting, engaging, and encourages
tained. Each chapter includes several Classroom Sugges- exploration and imagination. There are built-in instructional aids (e.g., virtual
manipulatives in math).
tions with strategies and tips. These clear, concise Activities require decision making and judgments.
There are minimal keyboard skill requirements and easy-

strategies serve as mini-guides for future teachers, giving It has a high degree of interactivity. to-understand icons.

them confidence to enter their classrooms ready to han-


The screen is not cluttered. The less clutter on the screen, There are praise and helpful feedback provisions.
the better.
It has a built-in review.
dle myriad situations. Examples of Classroom Suggestions Procedures and goals match those being taught in school.
Real-life solutions are simulated.
include Strategies to Promote Family Involvement, Directions are simple to read or have images or speech to
guide use. It has good record-keeping capabilities.
Guidelines for Implementing Cooperative Learning, Software is modifiable (e.g., speed, quantity of problems, And

Examples of Instructional Grouping Accommodations levels).


Remember software is a learning tool—not the total
Programs contain more than one activity. solution!
for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, and Accom-
modations for a Student Who Has Difficulty with Source: Lee (1987), Babbitt (1999), Hutinger and Johanson (1998).

PRACTICE
­Self-Control. into writing. Graphic organizers have also been found to have large effects on compre-
hension of vocabulary and science content for secondary students with learning disabili-
ties (Dexter & Hughes, 2010; Dexter, Park, & Hughes, 2011). In a younger age version,
Classroom Example Mnemonic Strategy for Teaching Students to
Kidspiration, K–5 students can build graphic organizers by combining pictures, text, and

Classroom Examples spoken words to represent thoughts and information. In mathematics instruction, com-
Write a Friendly Letter
puter-aided instruction has been shown to be an effective tool (Salend, 2015). Students
who use appropriate technology persist longer, enjoy learning more, and make gains in
The third edition of Exceptional Students math performance. Instructional software for computation, time, money, measurement,
algebra, and word-problem solving is widely available. Students with poor organizational
continues to include classroom artifacts skills,
Purpose: memory
To aid studentsdeficits, oraillegible
in writing handwriting may benefit from using personal digital
friendly letter.
assistants (PDAs) to keep track of assignments, make to-do lists, take notes, cue them-
and sample handouts of real and relevant Population: Elementary
selves to perform a particular task with the alarm or paging system, access and remem-
LETTERber task sequences, or organize important information (Bauer & Ulrich, 2002; Klein-Ezell
student and teacher work. For example, I Ezell, 2008; Miller, 2009; Salend, 2015). A significant advantage of handheld PDAs is
Lead offtheir
with date and greeting.
portability and their universal use. Digital pens can record lectures allowing stu-
the text shares a sample Team-Teaching dents to go back to their notes later and fill in any missing information. Digital textbooks
Express my thoughts and ideas in the body.
(e-books) can help students succeed in content area classes.
plan, a Contingency Contract, and a Social Terminate with closing and my name.
The Selection of Technology
Story with picture cues to assist with wait- Take time to proofread.
Technology has great potential for improving performance of students with learning dis-
ing in line in the cafeteria. abilities on general education expectations (Maccini, Gagnon, & Hughes, 2002), but
Edit and revise if necessary.
teachers must take care to choose well-designed, time-efficient programs. They must also
Realize avoid using
that I am the letter
a good computers
writer. to simply keep students occupied without relating the com-
puter work to their educational needs. Assistive technology must be carefully matched to
Source:the needsbyofEllen
Provided the Karger
student and South
(1998), the environment inofwhich
Florida teacher thewith
students learning
learningwill take place
disabilities.
Practical Considerations for (Beigel, 2000; Bryant & Bryant, 2012).
With valuable instructional time limited, teachers should carefully select appropri-
the Classroom ate, time-efficient software that meets the needs of students and incorporates best prac-
tice in instructional design and curriculum (Bryant & Bryant, 2012). Several characteristics
of software that result in efficient use by students with learning disabilities are presented
Concluding each chapter, Practical Considerations for the Classroom: A Reference for Teach- in the Classroom and
Suggestions
capitalsfeature above. & Scruggs, 2014). It is effective because it is concrete and
(Mastropieri
meaningful What
and closely ties new information to students’ prior knowledge (Scruggs &
ers provides an at-a-glance practical summary the future teacher can take into
Mastropieri, the
2000). class-
Are Other Instructional
Mastropieri
Considerations for Teaching Students with Learning
and Scruggs (1991) presented the following “three Rs”
Disabilities? 119

room. Sections of the feature include What IDEA Says about the Specific of the Exceptionality,
keyword method:

Identification Tools, Characteristics, Indicators You Might See, Teaching Implications,1. Reconstruct the term or word to be learned into an
acoustically similar, already familiar, and easily pic-
JUSTIN REVISITED Are there some
Methodologies and Strategies to Try, Considerations for the General Classroom, and tured concrete term—select a keyword (to learn bar-
metacognitive or cognitive strategies that rister is a lawyer, the keyword selected is bear).
Collaboration. Again, understanding the principlesmight of help
planning, implementing, and2. Relate the keyword to the to-be-learned information
Justin learn better? If yes, in
delivering special education and related services is vital
whattoareas?
passing
If not,state
why dolicensure exams. in
you think these
an interactive picture, image, or sentence (e.g., the
interactive sentence to be pictured is “a bear pleading
a case in court”).
would not help him? 3. Retrieve the appropriate response: when asked what
the response is (what is a barrister?): first, think of
Coverage of Collaboration the keyword (“bear”); second, think back to the interactive picture and what was
happening in that picture (“a bear pleading a case”). Finally, give the desired
response (“a barrister is a lawyer”).
We strongly believe that helping our future teachers to be part of a Attribution collaborative team
Retraining. Students are more likely to use effective cognitive strategies
will result in a better educational experience for the exceptional student, the general
when they attribute their learning success to the use of these strategies (Meltzer & Mon-
tague, 2001). Many students with learning disabilities may need to be taught to do this.
education teacher, and the special education teacher. We have continued
attribution retraining
to devote
Successful attribution a requires first teaching students to make statements that
retraining
complete chapter to collaboration and have updated the section
A procedure to retrain an
individual’s attributions of on
reflect co-teaching
attributions of effort,inthen teaching them to attribute difficulties to ineffective
strategies, and finally, arranging for them to experience success with effective strategies
particular. The chapter provides an introduction to collaboration
include ability, effort, including its history
success or failure. Possible
attributions
(Ellis, Lenz, & Sabornie, 1987). Examples of positive self-statements that attribute suc-
cess to effort and not to luck include: “I succeeded on the spelling test because I used the
and key concepts and the roles of different team members. It also explores
task difficulty, and luck.
spelling strategybest prac-
I learned.” “I got an A on my science project because I started early and
tices in collaboration among schools and families, between school personnel, and
used my time effectively.” Examples of positive statements that attribute failure to inef-
fective strategies and not lack of ability include: “I failed the math text because I put off
between schools and communities. In addition, we’ve integrated issues of collaboration
studying until the last minute and I fell asleep. Next time I’ll start earlier.” “I didn’t do as
well as I could have on the test because I didn’t study for an essay test. Next time I’ll
in individual chapters where relevant. practice writing essay answers when I study” (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2014).

112 Chapter 4 Students with Learning Disabilities


xvii
Practical Considerations for the Classroom Students with Learning Disabilities
Considerations for the
What IDEA Says about Learning Methodologies and General Classroom and
Disabilities: Learning Disabilities is Characteristics Indicators You Might See Teaching Implications Strategies to Try Collaboration
an IDEA category. IDEA defines learn-
ing disabilities as “a disorder in one
Related to Reading May have problems with phonological awareness or processing; Instructional Content • Task Analysis (p. 107) Instruction generally occurs in

or more of the basic psychological


rapid automatic naming; word recognition (mispronunciation;
skipping, adding, or substituting words; reversing letters or words;
• Most students with learning disabilities will participate in the general • Cognitive the general education
classroom.
education curriculum. They will most likely need intensive instruction in Strategies (p. 109)
processes involved in understanding difficulty blending sounds together); and comprehension (due to
or in using language, spoken or writ- lack of background knowledge, difficulty understanding text •
the process of learning and in the content of learning.
Consider need for the curriculum to include declarative knowledge,
• Metacognitive Strategies The general education teacher
(p. 109) should:
structure, and vocabulary deficits). procedural knowledge, and conditional knowledge.
ten, which may manifest in an imper-
fect ability to listen, think, speak, • Support content areas of reading (phonological awareness, decoding • Mnemonics (p. 111) • Establish a positive climate
read, spell, or do mathematical calcu- Related to Possible problems with basic number facts, calculation, application, and comprehension), written language (teaching writing as a process), • Attribution Retraining that promotes valuing and
accepting personal
mathematics (computation and problem solving), and study skills (such as (p. 112)
lations.” Disorders included are per- Mathematics language of math, problem solving, oral drills and worksheets, word responsibility for learning.
listening, note taking, time management, comprehending textbook
ceptual disabilities, brain injury,
problems, math anxiety, and retrieving information from long-term
memory. usage and memory strategies). • Consider accommodations
minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, • Transition planning should include the development of goal setting and such as changes in
presentation of instructional
and developmental aphasia. Disor- self-advocacy.
Writing and Written Possible problems with handwriting, spelling, or written language/ methods or materials,
ders not included are learning prob- Expression written expression (punctuation, vocabulary, and sentence assignments and tests,
Instructional Procedures response modes, the learning
lems that are primarily the result of Characteristics structure).
visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; • Provide a structured instructional program with daily routines and environment, and time
expectations; clear rules; curriculum presented in an organized, sequential demands and scheduling.
mental retardation; emotional distur- Expressive and Possible problems with producing and understanding language. fashion; and a focus on learning tasks rather than extraneous stimuli. • Consider adapting the
bance; or environmental, cultural, or Receptive Language • In planning, consider what, how, and when to teach; provide activities for academic content.
economic disadvantage. Characteristics practice, feedback, and evaluation; organize and pace the curriculum; • Consider a parallel or
and provide smooth transitions. overlapping curriculum.
Identification Tools: The general • Consider using task analysis and direct instruction.

classroom teacher often makes the


Cognitive-Related
Characteristics
Possible problems with attention, memory, strategy use, and
metacognition.
• Consider using cognitive and metacognitive strategies instruction. Consider Collaboration
whether using the Learning Strategies Curriculum would be of use in
initial identification based on class- teaching academics and social interaction. Consider attribution retraining. General and special educators
room observation and performance, Social and Possible social skills deficits, and problems with social cognition • Effective instructional practices for ELLs include using visuals to reinforce should consult on:

and state- or districtwide assess- Emotional and relationships with others. May have fewer friends and less concepts and vocabulary, utilizing cooperative learning and peer tutoring, • Determining the curriculum
ments. Prereferral Assessment and Characteristics social status than peers. Possible behavioral problems include making strategic use of the native language by allowing students to • Developing accommodations
RTI Approaches: Possibly uses
depression, anxiety disorders, and antisocial personality disorder. organize their thoughts in their native language, providing sufficient time • Choosing procedures and
May also display learned helplessness. and opportunity for students to use oral language and writing in formal strategies
criterion-referenced testing, curricu- and informal contexts, and focusing on rich vocabulary words during • Planning the physical
lum-based assessment, and criterion- lessons to be used as vehicles for teaching literary concepts. Also environment
referenced measurement. Formal consider providing simplified, appealing, multisensory lectures; adapting • Planning for assistive
textbooks and assignments; and using supplementary materials. technology
Identification: Several sources are
used for identification. They may
Instructional Environment
include intelligence and achievement
tests, tests measuring process skills,
• Reduce congestion in high-traffic areas, make sure you can see all
students, make frequently used materials and supplies easily accessible,
and language and academic tests. ensure that all students can see whole class presentations.
The response to intervention • For preschool students, the environment should be structured and
approach may also be used. promote efficiency, accessibility, independence, and functionality. It
should also promote language and literacy development.
• For elementary and secondary students, the environment should be
organized to prevent “dead time.” Structure and routine are important.
Space should be available for individual work, large and small group work,
peer tutoring, and cooperative learning. Decrease possible distractions.
• Effective grouping options include one-to-one instruction, small group,
whole class, peer tutoring, and classwide peer tutoring.

Instructional Technology
• For preschool students, consider interactive software as well as other
technology typically used with older students.
• For elementary and secondary students, consider how the computer can
be used for drill and practice, tutoring, instructional games, research,
writing, and problem solving. Technology is available to help develop
reading, writing, math, and organizational skills.
• Keep family’s background and culture in mind when recommending

Coverage of Students at Risk


technology

122 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Teacher? 123

As part of our belief in including practical and relevant information for all future teach-
ers, we have included a chapter dedicated to at-risk children (Chapter 13). Regardless
of whether they receive services under Part C of IDEA, children at risk may be identi-
fied as needing services through Part B of IDEA. If identified early and addressed
appropriately, the learning challenges of some of these students can be remediated
without formal identification. This chapter enables future teachers to identify students
who may be at risk and provide them with the appropriate supports.

Integration of Key Topics


Based on our experience teaching introduction to special education courses, and feed-
back from readers, instructors, and reviewers, we have updated but maintained integra-
tion of topics that include:

• Inclusion: The inclusive classroom is first introduced in Chapter 2 (The Special


Education Process). To further emphasize the importance of this topic, and to
discuss it in a relevant and practical manner, the final section of each chapter in
Parts Two–Four focuses on the inclusive, general education classroom. As members
of the collaborative special education team, both the special education teacher and
the general education teacher benefit from fully understanding inclusion. It pre-
pares the future general education teacher for a classroom with exceptional stu-
dents and enables the future special education teacher to better understand general
classroom needs, thereby fostering better collaboration.
• Student Cultural Diversity: Diversity is first introduced in Chapter 1 (An Overview of
Special Education) and then discussed within each chapter. For example, effective
instructional strategies for English language learners with learning disabilities are
suggested in Chapter 4 (Students with Learning Disabilities); working with families

xviii
from diverse backgrounds when implementing assistive technology for students with
intellectual disabilities is discussed in Chapter 5 (Students with Intellectual Disabili-
ties); and the underidentification of culturally diverse gifted students is explored in
Chapter 15 (Students Who Are Gifted and Talented).
• Technology: Technology offers a range of support and learning opportunities for
students. With the explosive growth of technology tools, an understanding of how
and when to use these tools and their benefits should be discussed. Each chapter
in Parts Two–Four presents a section on relevant technologies useful in the instruc-
tion and support of students with special needs.
• Early Intervention and Transition: Like technology, early intervention and transition
issues vary by exceptionality. Coverage ranges from the importance of early inter-
vention with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, to special tran-
sition support, such as for postsecondary education for students with learning
disabilities.

Features That Support Student Learning


Students in our classrooms not only need to read textual information but also need to
understand, analyze, and synthesize the large amount of material presented to them.
The third edition of Exceptional Students includes the following pedagogical aids as
guides for future teachers, resulting in more application and a better understanding of
special education.

• Chapter Opening Outline: Each chapter begins with a chapter outline designed as
an advance organizer to prepare the reader for the content to come.
• Check Your Understanding: Concluding each major section are several questions
presented to check understanding of key ideas. This allows students to learn and
digest material in smaller chunks. By using this tool, students can work through
the material at their own pace, checking that they fully understand one concept
before moving to the next.
• Marginal Definitions of Key Terms: For easy reference, full definitions of key terms
are presented in the margin next to where they appear in the chapter. These
definitions are also available in the glossary at the end of the text.
• Chapter Summary: Key concepts are highlighted to reinforce an understanding of
the most important concepts and provide an effective tool for studying.
• Reflection Questions and Application Activities: Chapter-ending reflection questions
encourage debate, active learning, and reflection, along with application activities
that may involve field components and emphasize learning in real environments,
with real students and practitioners, and in schools and communities.

Supplemental Offerings
The third edition of Exceptional Students is accompanied by a wealth of teaching and
learning resources.

• Instructor’s Manual. Each chapter includes an overview, objectives, outline, and


key vocabulary list; teaching strategies; classroom activities; alternative assessment
activities; possible responses to the Revisit questions asked in the text; and addi-
tional case studies and examples.
• Test Bank by Kelly Brown Kearney, Florida Atlantic University. Each chapter is
supported by multiple-choice and true/false questions categorized by type of ques-
tion and level of difficulty, and essay questions.
• PowerPoint Slides. The PowerPoint slides cover the key points of each chapter and
include charts and graphs from the text. The PowerPoint presentations serve as
an organization and navigation tool, and can be modified to meet your needs.

xix
McGraw-Hill Connect® is a highly reliable, easy-to-
use homework and learning management solution
that utilizes learning science and award-winning
adaptive tools to improve student results.

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application, so they can better understand the
material and think critically.
▪ Connect will create a personalized study path
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▪ SmartBook helps students study more efficiently
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▪ Connect content is authored by the world’s best subject is required.
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on performance, study behavior, and effort.
Instructors can quickly identify students who ©Hero Images/Getty Images

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▪ If you’re looking for some guidance on how to use Connect, or want to learn
tips and tricks from super users, you can find tutorials as you work. Our Digital
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www.mheducation.com/connect
Acknowledgments
Just as it takes a team to educate students with The third edition of Exceptional Children would
exceptionalities, so it does to write a textbook. We not be possible without the feedback from instruc-
gratefully acknowledge the feedback, guidance, and tors and students who used the book in their class-
contributions offered by our expert consultants who rooms. We thank the reviewers who gave us their
helped ensure current and comprehensive coverage feedback for this revision.
in their areas of specialty; design consultants who
commented on the cover and interior designs; peer
reviewers who teach relevant college courses and Third Edition Peer Reviewers
were able to suggest how chapters or discussions
could be improved to best meet the way they teach Robin Brewer, University of Northern Colorado
and their students learn the course content; and Dana Kim Collier, Kilgore College
especially the reviewers of the new third edition. We
Sara Hawkins, Miami Dade College
also wish to thank Kalynn Hall for her research
assistance, and new chapter coauthors, Drs. Megan Arlene King-Berry, University of the District
Lyons, Mary-Kate Sableski, Lisa Finnegan, and of Columbia
Katie Miller. Cynthia Young, Covenant College

xxii
CHA PTE R 1
An Overview of
Special Education

© Realistic Reflections
C HA P TE R OUTLI NE

Who Are Exceptional Students? How Have Litigation and Legislation Affected
Special Education?
How Many Exceptional Students Are There? Early Court Cases
Early Legislation Affecting Special Education
What Are Special Education and
Related Services? Post–PL 94-142 Legislation
Current Legislation: Individuals with Disabilities
Special Education Education Act (PL 108-446)
Related Services
What Are Some Current and Future Issues
What Is the History of Special Education? in Special Education?
Early History Overrepresentation of Students from Culturally or
The 17th through 19th Centuries Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds
The 20th Century Education and Transition of Infants and Toddlers
Role of the General Education Teacher

T
his book is about teaching exceptional students—what both special education
and general education teachers, and other professionals, can do to educate stu-
dents with special needs to the most appropriate extent. It covers foundational
information on the history, definitions, prevalence, causes, characteristics, and identi-
fication of exceptional students that teachers need to understand in order to make
informed decisions for the classroom. Perhaps more importantly, in this book we dis-
cuss practical information regarding the instructional content, procedures, environ-
ment, and technology that teachers will use in their day-to-day activities. Teaching
exceptional students is a challenging, rewarding, and sometimes both a frustrating and
joyful endeavor. Through research and continued teaching, we are constantly discover-
ing more and more about the characteristics, capabilities, and educational needs of
exceptional students. Similarly, we have learned a great deal about the educational
approaches to use with students with special needs. However, we have also learned
that just as each student has individual characteristics, needs, and strengths and weak-
nesses, there is no single approach, theory, or philosophy that gives us all the answers
or will be relevant for all exceptional students. Current federal law requires that stu-
dents with disabilities be taught using scientifically based instruction. With this in
mind, the approaches, models, and techniques discussed in this text are supported by
research. We share this research-based information for you to use as you begin your
personal collection of approaches, models, and techniques to be implemented with
your students with different needs.
In this first chapter, we provide you with the foundational understanding you need
to explore the different categories of exceptionality and to effectively support and teach
students with exceptionalities. We first explain how exceptional students are defined
and how many exceptional students are being served in the schools. This leads to an
explanation of the meaning and intent of special education and related services. Next,
we provide an overview of the history of the treatment and education of individuals with
exceptionalities. We then discuss the litigation and legislation that define special educa-
tion today and that will, in many cases, outline your responsibilities in the classroom. We
conclude this chapter by introducing you to three issues in special education that we will
revisit throughout the text: (1) the overidentification of students from culturally and lin-
guistically diverse backgrounds in many categories of disability, (2) the need for early
intervention and transition of young children with disabilities, and (3) the important role
of the general education teacher.
Who Are Exceptional Students?
In the simplest terms, an exceptional student is one whose educational needs are not exceptional student A student
met by traditional educational programs so that a special education program is necessary. whose educational needs are
An exceptional student may have a disability, such as a learning disability, or a significant not met by traditional education
programs. An exceptional
gift or talent. Many terms are used in the field of special education, some that you prob- student can have a disability or
ably are familiar with and others that you might not be. Before we go any further, we will can have gifts and talents.
make a distinction between three important terms that are sometimes incorrectly used
interchangeably: impairment, disability, and handicap. impairment A loss or
abnormality of a psychological,
An impairment refers to a loss or abnormality of a psychological, physiological, or ana- physiological, or anatomical
tomical structure or function. For example, Devon, who had a diving accident and is para- structure or function.
lyzed below his waist, has an impairment. A disability is a limitation that is inherent in the
individual as a result of the impairment, whereas a handicap is caused when an individual disability A limitation that is
inherent in an individual as a
encounters a situation based on external factors. For example, Devon has a disability due to result of the impairment.
a lack of mobility caused by his paralysis. Devon would also have a handicap if he wanted to
enter a building that has stairs but no ramp for his wheelchair. A person with a disability does handicap A problem an
not have to have a handicap. In fact, it should be a goal to ensure that no person with a dis- individual encounters based on
external factors.
ability also has a handicap. For example, some universities, through their Office of Students
with Disabilities, make sure that the courses attended by students who use wheelchairs are
offered on the first floor of buildings in case the elevators break down. The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA), an earlier version of the current federal law, first
recommended that the term disability replace the term handicap, which had been used in
previous legislation. To be consistent with the recommended terminology, we use the term
handicap when referring to legal information prior to 1990 and the term disability for informa-
tion after 1990. Today, the term disability is used primarily. Some believe that the terms
impairment and handicap are less preferable and in some way demeaning. Even the term dis-
ability has been challenged as appropriate but remains the term used in legislation.
Another recommendation made by IDEA was the use of “person-first” terminology
that emphasizes the individual first and then the disability. For example, prior to IDEA
an individual might be referred to as “a learning disabled student” or “an orthopedically
impaired child.” Now, the appropriate terminology is “a student with a learning disabil-
ity” and “a child with an orthopedic impairment.”
Students are defined as having a disability, and in need of special education, based on
criteria outlined in the most recent federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 that guides today’s special education
practices. This law is discussed in depth later in this chapter and
will be referred to throughout the text. IDEA identifies the follow-
ing specific types, labels, or categories of students who are consid-
ered as having a disability:
A child evaluated . . . as having mental retardation,* a hearing
impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impair-
ment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emo-
tional disturbance (referred to . . . as “emotional disturbance”),*
an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an
other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blind-
ness, or multiple disabilities, and who by reason thereof, needs
special education and related services.

*Although IDEA uses the term mental retardation, we have chosen to use the
term intellectual disability in this text. Intellectual disability is considered a less
derogatory term by many parents and professionals. We will refer to mental
retardation when discussing it as an IDEA category and when referring to
historical information such as early research and court cases. Similarly, the term
emotional or behavioral disorder will be used in place of emotional disturbance
whenever appropriate as this term better reflects the nature of the category.
A person with a disability does not have to have a handicap.
Source: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004). © Realistic Reflections

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CÆSAR
Constantine
CHAPTER I
THE EMPIRE UNDER DIOCLETIAN

The catastrophe of the fall of Rome, with all that its fall signified to
the fifth century, came very near to accomplishment in the third.
There was a long period when it seemed as though nothing could
save the Empire. Her prestige sank to the vanishing point. Her
armies had forgotten what it was to win a victory over a foreign
enemy. Her Emperors were worthless and incapable. On every side
the frontiers were being pierced and the barriers were giving way.
The Franks swept over Gaul and laid it waste. They penetrated
into Spain; besieged Toledo; and, seizing the galleys which they
found in the Spanish ports, boldly crossed into Mauretanian Africa.
Other confederations of free barbarians from southern Germany had
burst through the wall of Hadrian which protected the Tithe Lands
(Decumates agri), and had followed the ancient route of invasion
over the Alps. Pannonia had been ravaged by the Sarmatæ and the
Quadi. In successive invasions the Goths had overrun Dacia; had
poured round the Black Sea or crossed it on shipboard; had sacked
Trebizond and Chalcedon, and, after traversing Bithynia, had
reached the coast at Ephesus. Others had advanced into Greece
and Macedonia and challenged the Roman navies for the
possession of Crete.
Not only was Armenia lost, but the Parthians had passed the
Euphrates, vanquished and taken prisoner the Emperor Valerian,
and surprised the city of Antioch while the inhabitants were idly
gathered in the theatre. Valerian, chained and robed in purple, was
kept alive to act as Sapor’s footstool; when he died his skin was
tanned and stuffed with straw and set to grace a Parthian temple.
Egypt was in the hands of a rebel who had cut off the grain supply.
And as if such misfortunes were not enough, there was a succession
of terrifying and destructive earthquakes, which wrought their worst
havoc in Asia, though they were felt in Rome and Egypt. These too
were followed by a pestilence which raged for fifteen years and,
according to Eutropius, claimed, when at its height, as many as five
thousand victims in a single day.
It looked, indeed, as though the Roman Empire were past praying
for and its destruction certain.[1] The armies were in wide-spread
revolt. Rebel usurpers succeeded one another so fast that the period
came to be known as that of the Thirty Tyrants, many of whom were
elected, worshipped, and murdered by their soldiers within the space
of a few weeks or months. “You little know, my friends,” said
Saturninus, one of the more candid of these phantom monarchs,
when his troops a few years later insisted that he should pit himself
against Aurelian, “you little know what a poor thing it is to be an
Emperor. Swords hang over our necks; on every side is the menace
of spear and dart. We go in fear of our guards, in terror of our
household troops. We cannot eat what we like, fight when we would,
or take up arms for our pleasure. Moreover, whatever an Emperor’s
age, it is never what it should be. Is he a grey beard? Then he is
past his prime. Is he young? He has the mad recklessness of youth.
You insist on making me Emperor; you are dragging me to inevitable
death. But I have at least this consolation in dying, that I shall not be
able to die alone.”[2] In that celebrated speech, vibrating with bitter
irony, we have the middle of the third century in epitome.
But then the usual miracle of good fortune intervened to save
Rome from herself. The Empire fell into the strong hands of
Claudius, who in two years smote the Goths by land and sea, and of
Aurelian, who recovered Britain and Gaul, restored the northern
frontiers, and threw to the ground the kingdom over which Zenobia
ruled from Palmyra. The Empire was thus restored once more by the
genius of two Pannonian peasants, who had found in the army a
career open to talent. The murder of Aurelian, in 275, was followed
by an interregnum of seven months, during which the army seemed
to repent of having slain its general and paid to the Senate a
deference which effectually turned the head—never strong—of that
assembly. Vopiscus quotes a letter written by one senator to another
at this period, begging him to return to Rome and tear himself away
from the amusements of Baiæ and Puteoli. “The Senate,” he says,[3]
“has returned to its ancient status. It is we who make Emperors; it is
our order which has the distribution of offices. Come back to the city
and the Senate House. Rome is flourishing; the whole State is
flourishing. We give Emperors; we make Princes; and we who have
begun to create, can also restrain.” The pleasant delusion was soon
dispelled. The legions speedily re-assumed the rôle of king-makers.
Tacitus, the senatorial nominee, ruled only for a year, and another
series of soldier Emperors succeeded. Probus, in six years of
incessant fighting, repeated the triumphs of Aurelian, and carried his
successful arms east, west, and north. Carus, despite his sixty
years, crossed the Tigris and made good—at any rate in part—his
threat to render Persia as naked of trees as his own bald head was
bare of hairs. But Carus’s reign was brief, and at his death the
Empire was divided between his two sons, Carinus and Numerian.
The former was a voluptuary; the latter, a youth of retiring and
scholarly disposition, quite unfitted for a soldier’s life, was soon slain
by his Prætorian præfect, Arrius Aper. But the choice of the army fell
upon Diocletian, and he, after stabbing to the heart the man who had
cleared his way to the throne, gathered up into his strong hands the
reins of power in the autumn of 284. He met in battle the army of
Carinus at Margus, in Moesia, during the spring of 285. Carinus was
slain by his officers and Diocletian reigned alone.
But he soon found that he needed a colleague to halve with him
the dangers and the responsibilities of empire. He, therefore, raised
his lieutenant, Maximian, to the purple, with the title of Cæsar, and a
twelvemonth later gave him the full name and honours of Augustus.
There were thus two armies, two sets of court officials, and two
palaces, but the edicts ran in the joint name of both Augusti. Then,
when still further division seemed advisable, the principle of imperial
partnership was extended, and it was decided that each Augustus
should have a Cæsar attached to him. Galerius was promoted to be
the Cæsar of Diocletian; Constantius to be the Cæsar of Maximian.
Each married the daughter of his patron, and looked forward to
becoming Augustus as soon as his superior should die. The plan
was by no means perfect, but there was much to be said in its
favour. An Emperor like Diocletian, the nominee of the eastern army
alone and the son of a Dalmatian slave, had few, if any, claims upon
the natural loyalty of his subjects. Himself a successful adventurer,
he knew that other adventurers would rise to challenge his position,
if they could find an army to back them. By entrusting Maximian with
the sovereignty of the West, he forestalled Maximian’s almost certain
rivalry, and the four great frontiers each required the presence of a
powerful army and an able commander-in-chief. By having three
colleagues, each of whom might hope in time to become the senior
Augustus, Diocletian secured himself, so far as security was
possible, against military rebellion.
Unquestionably, too, this decentralisation tended towards general
efficiency. It was more than one man’s task, whatever his capacity, to
hold together the Empire as Diocletian found it. Gaul was ablaze
from end to end with a peasants’ war. Carausius ruled for eight years
in Britain, which he temporarily detached from the Empire, and,
secure in his naval strength, forced Diocletian and Maximian, much
to their disgust, to recognise him as a brother Augustus. This
archpirate, as they called him, was crushed at last, but whenever
Constantius crossed into Britain it was necessary for Maximian to
move up to the vacant frontier of the Rhine and mount guard in his
place. We hear, too, of Maximian fighting the Moors in Mauretania.
War was thus incessant in the West. In the East, Diocletian
recovered Armenia for Roman influence in 287 by placing his
nominee, Tiridates, on the throne. This was done without a breach
with Parthia, but in 296 Tiridates was expelled and war ensued.
Diocletian summoned Galerius from the Danube and entrusted him
with the command. But Galerius committed the same blunder which
Crassus had made three centuries and a half before. He led his
troops into the wastes of the Mesopotamian desert and suffered the
inevitable disaster. When he returned with the survivors of his army
to Antioch, Diocletian, it is said, rode forth to meet him; received him
with cold displeasure; and, instead of taking him up into his chariot,
compelled him to march alongside on foot, in spite of his purple robe.
However, in the following year, 297, Galerius faced the Parthian with
a new army, took the longer but less hazardous route through
Armenia, and utterly overwhelmed the enemy in a night attack. The
victory was so complete that Narses sued for peace, paying for the
boon no less a price than the whole of Mesopotamia and five
provinces in the valley of the Tigris, and renouncing all claim to the
sovereignty of Armenia.
This was the greatest victory which Rome had won in the East
since the campaigns of Trajan and Vespasian. It was followed by fifty
years of profound peace; and the ancient feud between Rome and
Parthia was not renewed until the closing days of the reign of
Constantine. Lactantius, of whose credibility as a historian we shall
speak later on, sneers at the victory of Galerius, which he says was
“easily won”[4] over an enemy encumbered by baggage, and he
represents him as being so elated with his success that when
Diocletian addressed him in a letter of congratulation by the name of
Cæsar, he exclaimed,[5] with glowing eyes and a voice of thunder,
“How long shall I be merely Cæsar?” But there is no word of
corroboration from any other source. On the contrary, we can see
that Diocletian, whose forte was diplomacy rather than generalship,
was on the best of terms with his son-in-law, Galerius, who regarded
him not with contempt, but with the most profound respect.
Diocletian and Galerius, for their lifetime at any rate, had settled the
Eastern question on a footing entirely satisfactory and honourable to
Rome. A long line of fortresses was established on the new frontier,
within which there was perfect security for trade and commerce, and
the result was a rapid recovery from the havoc caused by the Gothic
and Parthian irruptions.
Though Diocletian had divided the supreme power, he was still the
moving and controlling spirit, by whose nod all things were governed.
[6]
He had chosen for his own special domain Asia, Syria, and Egypt,
fixing his capital at Nicomedia, which he had filled with stately
palaces, temples, and public buildings, for he indulged the dream of
making his city the rival of Rome. Galerius ruled the Danubian
provinces with Greece and Illyricum from his capital at Sirmium.
Maximian, the Augustus of the West, ruled over Italy, Africa, and
Spain from Milan; Constantius watched over Gaul and Britain, with
headquarters at Treves and at York. But everywhere the writ of
Diocletian ran. He took the majestic name of Jovius, while Maximian
styled himself Herculius; and it stands as a marvellous tribute to his
commanding influence that we hear of no friction between the four
masters of the world.
Diocletian profoundly modified the character of the Roman
Principate. He orientalised it, adopting frankly and openly the
symbols and paraphernalia of royalty which had been so repugnant
to the Roman temper. Hitherto the Roman Emperors had been, first
and foremost, Imperators, heads of the army, soldiers in the purple.
Diocletian became a King, clad in sumptuous robes, stiff with
embroidery and jewels. Instead of approaching with the old military
salute, those who came into his presence bent the knee and
prostrated themselves in adoration. The monarch surrounded
himself, not with military præfects, but with chamberlains and court
officials, the hierarchy of the palace, not of the camp. We cannot
wholly impute this change to vanity or to that littleness of mind which
is pleased with pomp and elaborate ceremonial. Diocletian was too
great a man to be swayed by paltry motives. It was rather that his
subjects had abdicated their old claim to be called a free and
sovereign people, and were ready to be slaves. The whole senatorial
order had been debarred by Gallienus from entering the army, and
had acquiesced without apparent protest in an edict which closed to
its members the profession of arms. Diocletian thought that his
throne would be safer by removing it from the ken of the outside
world, by screening it from vulgar approach, by deepening the
mystery and impressiveness attaching to palaces, by elaborating the
court ceremonial, and exalting even the simplest of domestic
services into the dignity of a liturgy. It may be that these changes
intensified the servility of the subject, and sapped still further the
manhood and self-respect of the race. Let it not be forgotten,
however, that the ceremonial of the modern courts of Europe may be
traced directly back to the changes introduced by Diocletian, and
also that the ceremonial, which the older school of Romans would
have thought degrading and effeminate, was, perhaps, calculated to
impress by its stateliness, beauty, and dignity the barbarous nations
which were supplying the Roman armies with troops.
We will reserve to a later chapter some account of the remodelled
administration, which Constantine for the most part accepted without
demur. Here we may briefly mention the decentralisation which
Diocletian carried out in the provinces. Lactantius[7] says that “he
carved the provinces up into little fragments that he might fill the
earth with terror,” and suggests that he multiplied officials in order to
wring more money out of his subjects. That is an enemy’s perversion
of a wise statesman’s plan for securing efficiency by lessening the
administrative areas, and bringing them within working limits.
Diocletian split up the Empire into twelve great dioceses. Each
diocese again was subdivided into provinces. There were fifty-seven
of these when he came to the throne; when he quitted it there were
ninety-six. The system had grave faults, for the principles on which
the finances of the Empire rested were thoroughly mischievous and
unsound. But the reign of Diocletian was one of rapid recuperation
and great prosperity, such as the Roman world had not enjoyed
since the days of the Antonines.
CHAPTER II
THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH

Unfortunately for the fame of Diocletian there is one indelible blot


upon the record of his reign. He attached his name to the edicts
whereby was let loose upon the Christian Church the last and—in
certain provinces—the fiercest of the persecutions. Inasmuch as the
affairs of the Christian Church will demand so large a share of our
attention in dealing with the religious policy of Constantine, it will be
well here to describe, as briefly as possible, its condition in the reign
of Diocletian. It has been computed that towards the end of the third
century the population of the Roman Empire numbered about a
hundred millions. What proportion were Christians? No one can say
with certainty, but they were far more numerous in the East than in
the West, among the Greek-speaking peoples of Asia than among
the Latin-speaking peoples of Europe. Perhaps if we reckon them at
a twelfth of the whole we shall rather underestimate than
overestimate their number, while in certain portions of Asia and Syria
they were probably at least one in five. Christianity had spread with
amazing rapidity since the days of Domitian. There had been
spasmodic outbreaks of fierce persecution under Decius,—“that
execrable beast,” as Lactantius calls him,—under Valerian, and
under Aurelian. But Aurelian’s reign was short and he had been too
busy fighting to spare much time for religious persecution. The
tempest quickly blew over. For fully half a century, with brief
interludes of terror, the Church had been gathering strength and
boldness.
The policy of the State towards it was one of indifference.
Gallienus, indeed, the worthless son of Valerian, had issued edicts of
toleration, which might be considered cancelled by the later edicts of
Aurelian or might not. If the State wished to be savage, it could
invoke the one set; if to be mild, it could invoke the other. There was,
therefore, no absolute security for the Church, but the general feeling
was one of confidence. The army contained a large number of
Christians, of all ranks and conditions, officers, centurions, and
private soldiers. Many of the officials of the civil service were
Christians. The court and the palace were full of them. Diocletian’s
wife, Prisca, was a Christian; so was Valeria, his daughter. So, too,
were many of his chamberlains, secretaries, and eunuchs. If
Christianity had been a proscribed religion, if the Christians had
anticipated another storm, is it conceivable that they would have
dared to erect at Nicomedia, within full view of the palace windows, a
large church situated upon an eminence in the centre of the city, and
evidently one of its most conspicuous structures? No, Christianity in
the East felt tolerably safe and was advancing from strength to
strength, conscious of its increasing powers and of the benevolent
neutrality of Diocletian. Christians who took office were relieved from
the necessity of offering incense or presiding at the games. The
State looked the other way; the Church was inclined to let them off
with the infliction of some nominal penance. Nor was there much
difficulty about service in the army. Probably few enlisted in the
legions after they had become Christians; against this the Church set
her face. But she permitted the converted soldier to remain true to
his military oath, for she did not wish to become embroiled with the
State. In a word, there was deep religious peace, at any rate in
Diocletian’s special sphere of influence, Asia, Egypt, and Syria.
It is to be remembered, however, that there were four rulers, men
of very different characters and each, therefore, certain to regard
Christianity from a different standpoint. Thus there might be religious
peace in Asia and persecution in the West, as, indeed, there was—
partial and spasmodic, but still persecution. Maximian was cruel and
ambitious, an able soldier of the hard Roman type, no respecter of
persons, and careless of human life. Very few modern historians
have accepted the story of the massacre of the Theban Legion at
Agauna, near Lake Leman, for refusal to offer sacrifice and take the
oath to the Emperor. According to the legend, the legion was twice
decimated and then cut to pieces. But it is impossible to believe that
there could have been a legion or even a company of troops from
Thebes in Egypt, wholly composed of Christians, and, even
supposing the facts to have been as stated, their refusal to march in
obedience to the Emperor’s orders and rejoin the main army at a
moment when an active campaign was in progress, simply invited
the stroke of doom. Maximian was not the man to tolerate mutiny in
the face of the enemy.
But still there were many Christian victims of Maximian wherever
he took up his quarters—at Rome, Aquileia, Marseilles—mostly
soldiers whose refusal to sacrifice brought down upon them the arm
of the law. Maximian is described in the “Passion of St. Victor” as “a
great dragon,” but the story, even as told by the hagiologist, scarcely
justifies the epithet. Just as the military præfects, before whom Victor
was first taken, begged him to reconsider his position, so Maximian,
after ordering a priest to bring an altar of Jupiter, turned to Victor and
said[8]: “Just offer a few grains of incense; placate Jupiter and be our
friend.” Victor’s answer was to dash the altar to the ground from the
hands of the priest and place his foot triumphantly upon it. We may
admire the fortitude of the martyr, but the martyrdom was self-
inflicted, and the anger of the Emperor not wholly unwarranted. “Be
our friend,” he had said, and his overtures were spurned with
contempt.
We may suspect, indeed, that this partial persecution was due
rather to the insistence of the martyrs themselves than to deliberate
policy on the part of Maximian. When enthusiastic Christians thrust
their Christianity upon the official notice of the authorities, insulted
the Emperor or the gods, and refused to take the oath or sacrifice on
ceremonial occasions, then martyrdom was the result, and little
notice was taken, for life was cheap. Diocletian, as we have seen,
rather patronised than persecuted Christianity. Maximian’s
inclinations towards cruelty were kept in check by the known wishes
of his senior colleague. Constantius, the Cæsar of Gaul, was one of
those refined characters, tolerant and sympathetic by nature, to
whom the idea of persecution for the sake of religion was intensely
repugnant; and Galerius, the Cæsar of Pannonia, the most fanatical
pagan of the group, was not likely, at any rate during the first few
years after his elevation, to run counter to the wishes of his patron.
What was it, then, that wrought the fatal change in the mind of
Diocletian and turned him from benevolent neutrality to fierce
antagonism? Lactantius attributes it solely to the baleful influence of
Galerius, whom he paints in the very blackest colours. He was a wild
beast, a savage barbarian of alien blood, tall in stature, a mountain
of flesh, abnormally bloated, terrifying to look at, and with a voice
that made men shiver.[9] Behind this monster stood his mother, a
barbarian woman from beyond the Danube, priestess of some wild
deity of the mountains, imbued with a fanatical hatred of the
Christians, which she was for ever instilling into her son. When we
have stripped away the obvious exaggeration of this onslaught we
may still accept the main statement and admit that Galerius was the
most active and unsparing enemy of the Christians in the Imperial
circle. This rough soldier, trained in the school of two such martinets
as Aurelian and Probus, who enforced military discipline by the most
pitiless methods, would not stay to reason with a soldier’s religious
prejudices. Unhesitating obedience or death—that was the only
choice he gave to those who served under him, and when, after his
great victory over the Parthians, his position and prestige in the East
were beyond challenge, we find Christian martyrdoms in the track of
his armies, in the Anti-Taurus, in Cœle-Syria, in Samosata.
Galerius began to purge his army of Christians. Unless they would
sacrifice, officers were to lose their rank and private soldiers to be
dismissed ignominiously without the privileges of long service.
Several were put to death in Moesia, where a certain Maximus was
Governor. Among them was a veteran named Julius, who had
served in the legion for twenty-six years, and fought in seven
campaigns, without a single black mark having been entered against
his name for any military offence. Maximus did his best to get him
off. “Julius,” he said, “I see that you are a man of sense and wisdom.
Suffer yourself to be persuaded and sacrifice to the gods.” “I will not,”
was the reply, “do what you ask. I will not incur by an act of sin
eternal punishment.” “But,” said the Governor, “I take the sin upon
myself. I will use compulsion so that you may not seem to act
voluntarily. Then you will be able to return in peace to your house.
You will receive the bounty of ten denarii and no one will molest
you.” Evidently, Maximus was heartily sorry that such a fine old
soldier should take up a position which seemed to him so
grotesquely indefensible. But what was Julius’s reply? “Neither this
Devil’s money nor your specious words shall cause me to lose
eternal God. I cannot deny Him. Condemn me as a Christian.” After
the interrogation had gone on for some time, Maximus said: “I pity
you, and I beg you to sacrifice, so that you may live with us.” “To live
with you would be death for me,” rejoined Julius, “but if I die, I shall
live.” “Listen to me and sacrifice; if not, I shall have to keep my word
and order you to death.” “I have often prayed that I might merit such
an end.” “Then you have chosen to die?” “I have chosen a temporary
death, but an eternal life.” Maximus then passed sentence, and the
law took its course.
On another occasion the Governor said to two Christians, named
Nicander and Marcian, who had proved themselves equally resolute,
“It is not I whom you resist; it is not I who persecute you. My hands
are unstained by your blood. If you know that you will fare well on
your journey, I congratulate you.[10] Let your desire be
accomplished.” “Peace be with you, merciful judge,” cried both the
martyrs as the sentence was pronounced.
The movement seems gradually to have spread from the
provinces of Galerius to those of Maximian. At Tangiers, Marcellus, a
centurion of the Legion of Trajan, threw down his centurion’s staff
and belt and refused to serve any longer. He did so in the face of the
whole army assembled to sacrifice in honour of Maximian’s birthday.
A similar scene took place in Spain at Calahorra, near Tarraco,
where two soldiers cast off their arms exclaiming, “We are called to
serve in the shining company of angels. There Christ commands His
cohorts, clothed in white, and from His lofty throne condemns your
infamous gods, and you, who are the creatures of these gods, or, we
should say, these ridiculous monsters.” Death followed as a matter of
course. Looking at the evidence with absolute impartiality, one
begins to suspect that the process of clearing the Christians out of
the army was due quite as much to the fanaticism of certain
Christian soldiers eager for martyrdom, as to any lust for blood on
the part even of Galerius and Maximian.
But what we have to account for is the rise of a fierce anti-
Christian spirit which induced Diocletian—for even Lactantius admits
that he was not easily persuaded—to take active measures against
the Christians. It is certainly noteworthy that about this time the only
school of philosophy which was alive, active, and at all original, was
definitely anti-Christian. We refer, of course, to the Neo-Platonists of
Alexandria. Their principal exponent was the philosopher Porphyry,
who carried on a violent anti-Christian propaganda, though he
seems to have borrowed from Christianity, and more especially from
the rigorously ascetic form which Christianity had assumed in Egypt,
many of his leading tenets. The morality which Porphyry inculcated
was elevated and pure; his religion was mystical to such a degree
that none but an expert philosopher could follow him into the
refinements of his abstractions; but he had for the Christian Church a
“theological hatred” of extraordinary bitterness. The treatise—in
fifteen books—in which he assailed the Divinity of Christ apparently
set a fashion in anti-Christian literature. We hear, for example, of
another unnamed philosopher who “vomited three books against the
Christian religion,” and the violence with which Lactantius denounces
him as “an accomplished hypocrite” makes one suspect that his work
had a considerable success. Still better known was Hierocles,
Governor at one time of Palmyra, and then transferred to the royal
province of Bithynia, who wrote a book to which he gave the name of
The Friend of Truth, and addressed it, “To the Christians.” Its interest
lies chiefly in the fact that its author compares with the miracles
wrought by Christ those attributed to Apollonius of Tyana, and denies
divinity to both. Lactantius tells us that this Hierocles was “author
and counsellor of the persecution,”[11] and we may judge, therefore,
that there existed among the pagans a powerful party bitterly
opposed to Christianity, carrying on a vigorous campaign against it,
and urging upon the Emperors the advisability of a sharp repressive
policy.
They would have no difficulty in making out a case against the
Christians which on the face of it seemed plausible and
overwhelming. They would point to the fanatical spirit manifested, as
we have seen, by a large number of Christian soldiers in the army,
which led them to throw down their arms, blaspheme the gods, and
deny the Emperors. They would point to the anti-social movement,
which was especially marked in Egypt, where the example of St.
Antony was drawing crowds of men and women away into the desert
to live out their lives, either in solitary cells as hermits, or as
members of religious communities equally ascetic, and almost
equally solitary. They would point to the aloofness even of the
ordinary Christian in city or in town from its common life, and to his
avoidance of office and public duties. They would point to the
extraordinary closeness of the ties which bound Christians together,
to their elaborate organisation, to the implicit and ready obedience
they paid to their bishops, and would ask whether so powerful a
secret society, with ramifications everywhere throughout the Empire,
was not inevitably a menace to the established authorities. The
Christians were peaceable enough. To accuse them of plotting
rebellion was hardly possible, though the most outrageous
calumnies against them and their rites were sedulously fostered in
order to inflame the minds of the rabble, just as they were against
the Jews in the Middle Ages, and are, even at the present day, in
certain parts of the Continent of Europe. But, at bottom, the real
strength of the case against the Christians lay in the fact that the
more enlightened pagans saw that Christianity was the solvent which
was bound to loosen all that held pagan society together. They
instinctively felt what was coming, and were sensible of approaching
doom. Christianity was the enemy, the proclaimed enemy, of their
religion, of their point of view of this life as well as of the next, of their
customs, of their pleasures, of their arts. Paganism was fighting for
existence. What wonder that it snatched at any weapon wherewith to
strike?
BUST OF DIOCLETIAN.

The personal attitude of Diocletian towards religion in general is


best seen in the edict which he issued against the Manichæans. The
date is somewhat uncertain, but it undoubtedly preceded the anti-
Christian edicts. Manichæanism took its rise in Persia, its principal
characteristic being the practice of thaumaturgy, and it spread fast
throughout the East. Diocletian ordered the chiefs of the sect to be
burned to death; their followers were to have their goods confiscated
and to suffer capital punishment unless they recanted; while persons
of rank who had disgraced themselves by joining such a shameful
and infamous set of men were to lose their patrimony and be sent to
the mines. These were savage enactments, and it is important to see
how the Emperor justified them. Fortunately his language is most
explicit. “The gods,” he says, “have determined what is just and true;
the wisest of mankind, by counsel and by deed, have proved and
firmly established their principles. It is not, therefore, lawful to
oppose their divine and human wisdom, or to pretend that a new
religion can correct the old one. To wish to change the institutions of
our ancestors is the greatest of crimes.” Nothing could be clearer. It
is the old official defence of the State religion, that men are not wiser
than their fathers, and that innovation in worship is likely to bring
down the wrath of the gods. Moreover, as the edict points out, this
Manichæanism came from Persia, the traditional enemy of Rome,
and threatened to corrupt the “modest and tranquil Roman people”
with the detestable manners and infamous laws of the Orient.
“Modest and tranquil” are not the epithets which posterity has
chosen to apply to the Roman people of the Empire, but Diocletian’s
point is obvious. Manichæanism was a device of the enemy; it must
be poison, therefore, to the good Roman. Such an argument was
born of prejudice rather than of reason; we shall see it applied yet
again to the Christians, and applied even by the Christian Church to
its own schismatics and heretics.
It was during the winter of 302 that the question was carefully
debated by Diocletian and Galerius—the latter was staying with the
senior Augustus at Nicomedia—whether it was advisable to take
repressive measures against the Christians. According to Lactantius,
Galerius clamoured for blood, while Diocletian represented how
mischievous it would be to throw the whole world into a ferment, and
how the Christians were wont to welcome martyrdom. He argued,
therefore, that it would be quite enough if they purged the court and
the army. Then, as neither would give way, a Council was called,
which sided with Galerius rather than with Diocletian, and it was
decided to consult the oracle of Apollo at Miletus. Apollo returned the
strange answer that there were just men on the earth who prevented
him from speaking the truth, and gave that as the reason why the
oracles which proceeded from his tripods were false. The “just men”
were, of course, the Christians. Diocletian yielded, only stipulating
that there should be no bloodshed, while Galerius was for burning all
Christians alive. Such is Lactantius’s story, and it does credit to

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