The general premise of this text is that special education in the US has outlived its current structure, is outdated in its conceptualization of categories of exceptionalities, and needs to be “unbundled.” That is, special education is not a “one size fits all” system: It should be tailored to fit the needs of each individual child, whether or not the child has a disability. The true focus of the book, however, is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the growth of the behavioral analysis profession, and how behavioral analysts relate to children with autism. The authors trace the history of advocacy for children who are on the autism spectrum and the rise of Autism Speaks, a preeminent organization that fights for legislation benefiting children and adults with autism and their families. New laws in a number of states now call for insurance companies to pay for applied behavioral analysis services, and the authors stress that the need for board-certified behavioral analysts will continue to grow and that states need to be proactive in ensuring quality training programs for these in-demand practitioners. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and practitioners.
The general premise of this text is that special education in the US has outlived its current structure, is outdated in its conceptualization of categories of exceptionalities, and needs to be “unbundled.” That is, special education is not a “one size fits all” system: It should be tailored to fit the needs of each individual child, whether or not the child has a disability. The true focus of the book, however, is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the growth of the behavioral analysis profession, and how behavioral analysts relate to children with autism. The authors trace the history of advocacy for children who are on the autism spectrum and the rise of Autism Speaks, a preeminent organization that fights for legislation benefiting children and adults with autism and their families. New laws in a number of states now call for insurance companies to pay for applied behavioral analysis services, and the authors stress that the need for board-certified behavioral analysts will continue to grow and that states need to be proactive in ensuring quality training programs for these in-demand practitioners.
Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and practitioners.
How Autism is Reshaping Special Education is a thoughtful analysis of the current ‘square peg, round hole’ context that creates so many challenges and barriers for students with autism. It provides rational and practical suggestions that will hopefully inform change and maximize outcomes for people with autism.
Mark K. Claypool and John M. McLaughlin systematically examine how the increased diagnostic rate of autism, the emergence of autism advocacy and Autism Speaks in particular, and the passage of autism insurance mandates have radically shifted the way in which our society views disability. How Autism is Reshaping Special Education makes it very clear that sweeping, meaningful policy change is imperative in the next reauthorization of IDEA. Claypool and McLaughlin make a compelling argument that IDEA must be unbundled in order to increase opportunities and outcomes for all children with disabilities.
An extremely comprehensive and well-rounded collection of perspectives on the complex factors that have shaped the context in which autism services are provided as well as the important issues that must be addressed in order to move the needle on improving outcomes for children with ASD and their families.
The general premise of this text is that special education in the US has outlived its current structure, is outdated in its conceptualization of categories of exceptionalities, and needs to be “unbundled.” That is, special education is not a “one size fits all” system: It should be tailored to fit the needs of each individual child, whether or not the child has a disability. The true focus of the book, however, is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the growth of the behavioral analysis profession, and how behavioral analysts relate to children with autism. The authors trace the history of advocacy for children who are on the autism spectrum and the rise of Autism Speaks, a preeminent organization that fights for legislation benefiting children and adults with autism and their families. New laws in a number of states now call for insurance companies to pay for applied behavioral analysis services, and the authors stress that the need for board-certified behavioral analysts will continue to grow and that states need to be proactive in ensuring quality training programs for these in-demand practitioners.Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and practitioners.
2017-03-07
A snapshot of the state of special education, 50 years after the launch of what became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Claypool and McLaughlin (We're In This Together, 2015) here provide an accessible crash course on the history of special ed. In the main, they leave the talking to a range of national experts that they've interviewed, but they bolster their arguments with verifiable, current data from government agencies and anecdotal testimony about families' experiences within the system. The authors are executives at ChanceLight, which provides behavioral health, educational, and therapy services for young people with autism and other disorders, and their entrepreneurial bent shows in this book. For example, they write that educational reform must take a leaf from business reform, citing Uber, Airbnb, and artisanal food producers as examples of "unbundling," or moving from global to local ideas. (Some readers may counter, however, that far more Americans rely on global firms, such as Target, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart.) The authors go on to argue that the efficacy of special education, especially for autism spectrum disorders, has been undermined by regulations. Programs vary from state to state, they say, and law-enshrined individualized education programs aren't always followed; roughly half of the states don't meet legal requirements in this area, they say. The book often quotes spokespeople from the advocacy organization Autism Speaks, because the authors deem it "a business disruptor whose innovations revolutionized the landscape"; less fully explored, however, is that group's controversial standing in the disability community. Similarly, the book heavily features the benefits of applied behavior analysis and only partly balances them with dissenting voices that argue that autism, as a neurological problem, requires a multidisciplinary approach. The book's recommendations for reform—such as a rethinking of definitions of "normal"—aren't groundbreaking. However, the book finishes optimistically, and overall, it should motivate all parents of children with special needs. An often valuable, if not comprehensive, overview of special education's successes and shortfalls.
