Intellectual Disability
Read more about students who have been diagnosed with limited mental abilities that significantly affect learning and daily life
Student Well-Being
6 Rules for Engaging Students With Intellectual Disabilities in Sports
Here's how to get started with unified sports, where students with and without intellectual disabilities can play together.
Special Education
Intellectual Disability Definition Plays Role in Supreme Court Deliberations
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a Texas case about what standard of intellectual disability can be used to disqualify a person from the death penalty.
Special Education
Alternate Tests for Special Education Still Sticking Point for ESSA Panel
The panel tasked with creating rules to govern the Every Student Succeeds Act is hung up language in the law relating to testing students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Special Education
Young Adults With Down Syndrome Star in New Cable Reality Show
"Born this Way," featuring seven young adults with Down syndrome, premieres at 10 p.m. ET December 8 on the A&E network.
Special Education
Alternative Education Track Would See New Scrutiny Under Federal Bill
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, wants to ensure parents are given more information before allowing their children to be placed in an educational track with less rigor than the general education curriculum.
School & District Management
Nationwide Survey Offers Data on Sexual Abuse of Students With Disabilities
Survey respondents reported that many students with disabilities were subjected to sexual abuse many times, often by adults in the school setting.
Teaching
Sparking Literacy Gains for Students With Intellectual Disabilities
After up to four years of intervention, students with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities were able to read 1st-grade-level text, new research finds.
Special Education
Justice Department Settles With Rhode Island Over Disabilities Complaint
Federal officials investigating Americans with Disabilities Act violations in Providence, R.I., had expanded their work to the whole state after settling last year with the Providence school system.
Special Education
New York Times Shines Spotlight on 'Sheltered Employment'
The newspaper offers a detailed account of the lives of men with intellectual disabilities who worked for decades at a turkey-processing plant, earning less than $100 a month.
Special Education
FBI Probe Finds No Misuse of Title I Funds in Providence, R.I. District
The FBI was one of several federal agencies involved in an investigation into a vocational program that was found to be improperly isolating students with intellectual disabilities.
Special Education
Justice Department Criticizes Rhode Island Sheltered Workshop
Providence has shut down a program for youth and adults with intellectual disabilities that required them work at menial jobs at wages far below the state minimum.
Special Education
Revised Psychiatric Disorders 'Bible' Changes Disability Definitions
The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as the DSM-5, represents the latest thinking on what symptoms define a host of mental disorders, with potential implications for schools, teachers and parents.
Assessment
New Rules for Testing Students With Disabilities Spark Concerns in Texas
Students tested only on the simplest tasks under Texas' new testing regime will not be counted as proficient under state and federal proficiency standards.
Special Education
Series on Group Home Abuses Earns Journalism Honor
California Watch's reporting on problems with the state-run police force tasked to protect the vulnerable residents of California group homes was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for public service.