Howdy and hello, Dear Readers. Here we have the 1844th post in the history of Special Education Today, and I hope it is one that brings you valuable information and insights.
As usual, the newsletter is composed of a photo, some updates on the status of the endeavor, a list of the posts for the last week, and a bit of commentary.
Read on!
Photo
Another luncheon, another pizza outing (what else?). David Bateman, Michael Kennedy, Bryan Cook, and I met for lunch. It was a particularly formal event (I did not wear a shirt with a collar) and, sadly, a couple of other local folks (Jean C. Peggy W. Mandy R., Bill T., Dan H…others?) missed this event. Mayhaps they will be able to make a future one.
The location was Fabio’s NY Pizza, said by the Pizza Expert among us to offer the best retail pizza in Charlottesville.
Status notes
A tip of the lid to KT. L. whose paid subscription popped up this past week. Yay and we are glad you are joining other folks who help sustain SET, especially including our trio of patrons, Mike G., Kathy M., and Anita A. There are many others, some of whom I shall feature here with links to their own ‘stacks or sites: Marilyn F., Bryan W., Kata S., & Sally B.1
Thanks to Mike N., there was at least one comment on a post this week. In his comment, Mike carried on with the reference last week to J. Alfred Prufrock, tossing in another memorable line from that poem.
Folks dropped a lot of “likes,” for sure. Thanks for those 💚💙🤎.
The total number of subscriptions is pushing right up next to 1300. I suspect that SET will cross that century number in the next week or two.
SETlettes
There were eight posts for the week. However, none of your authors managed to publish a post on Saturday or Sunday. Did you miss us…wait, don’t answer that.
Two posts were available to paid subscribers, and the remainder of them were available to everyone. Here is a list of them in two sections (with authors in brackets).
For the faithful
Reading comprehension Webinar: Might there be some valuable content in this session? [JWL]
The educational research evidence we need—No. 0: Here begins a series of posts about thinking about research in education [JWL]
Public
Special Education Today newsletter 6(14): What was it like for SET the week that began 28 September 2026? [JWL]
Happy International Teachers’ Day 2026: Why should we make sure that teachers of students with disabilities are included in this celebration? [L-Y-H, JWL, ET, MA-H, APLM, JR, MR, & DB]
Dwarfism—measuring humanity: What does “The Tallest Dwarf” help us to understand about people with disabilities? [JWL]
ASAT: Camel milk for autism?: What does the Association for Science in Autism Treatment say? [JWL]
Healthy Children Project [JWL]
Friday catch-up notes—9 October 2026: What about stories that didn’t show up as a full post this week? [JWL]
That was your harvest for the week. I hope everyone found something of interest and value among the posts.
Please remember that all posts, whether public or paid are archived on the Web site https://www.SpecialEducationToday.com/ so you can check back on any you missed.
Commentary
Sold a Story 2 is slated to begin 15 October 2026, the same day that I have a follow-up appointment with an ophthalmologist about the second phacoemulsification surgery, when the aged-cloudy lens on my left eye was replaced with an artificial intraocular lens. The change in my vision after the first surgery has been…well…eye-opening.
The 15th is also a special day otherwise for me, so I expect to devote little time to anything other than recovering from the “Phaco, Extracapular Cataract (Ecce) W/ Iol Insertion; W/O Ecp,” as the surgeon’s office calls it.
Except that I shall be eager to see-hear the start of this new series of podcasts by Ms. Hanford. I anticipate that the topic (instruction, as I understand it) and the reporting will be of particular interest to me.
I suspect that everyone reading these notes knows that I consider instruction to be of tip-top importance for special education. To be sure, I want us to do great work on assessment, identification, policy, and other similar aspects of special education, but it’s teaching that really rings my chimes. If that is, indeed, the topic of Ms. Hanford’s next series of shows, I am eager to learn what she does with it.
But I am also eager to see how she does the work. Based on her earlier efforts, I number Ms. Hanford among the best of the reporters on the education beat. That may seem like talking about the “education beat” is kind of a low bar, to be sure.
There is an on-going flood of reporting about education (and special education), but so much of it seems to me to be only sometimes slightly higher than the level of the material that is immediately destined to the landfill.
In contemporary education reporting, I see too much popping off about the latest hot topic. Maybe I am just reading the wrong sources, but it’s sort of like consuming the hot-takes on the the story detour. I have no idea how many stories we have had about cellphones in schools, about PISA scores, about Nicole Hannah-Jones’s article, about girls with autism or ADHD…but there seem to have been shiploads of them.
That there’s a lot of coverage is not so bad. The character of that coverage, however, bugs me. So much of what we get is—in my view, to be sure—spin, inference, opinion, and such. It’s quite often shrill and cover for advancing a philosophy (or dinging some other philosophy). Too rarely do I find sober and circumspect analyses.
I anticipate that Ms. Hanford’s Sold a Story 2 is going to be different. I surely hope that is the case.
And I also hope that you, Dear Readers, are taking care of yourselves and those with whom you are close. I trust you watch your step when you walk on uneven ground, remember to look both ways when crossing streets, and help little-wobbly-old people when they are walking through difficult environments. Also, remember to eat healthily and stay hydrated.2 And, as Michael Maloney and Graham Nash have been saying for years, teach your children well.
JohnL
Editor and Founder, Special Education Today
SET should not be confused with a product that uses essentially the same name and is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades. Despite my appreciation for CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization nor should the views expressed here be considered to represent the views or policies of that organization. A membership in CEC does not get one a subscription to SET and vice versa!
Footnotes
Did I miss you in this list? Are you a paid subscriber who has her own ‘stack? Please let me know!
Only four snicker doodles were harmed in the production of this issue of the newsletter.