Here begins yet another introduction to a newsletter for Special Education Today. This introduction provides Dear Readers with a few fundamental facts that establish the starting point for this issue (which is the 1862nd post in the history of SET).
It is the issue for the week beginning 19 October 2026 and ending 25 October 2026.
It has the usual sections
Photo
Administrative update
Catalog of posts from the past week
Some editorial notes
…probably poorly reasoned
…mayhaps unclearly written
Okay! So, let us get on with it!
Photo
A small group of local pals gathered for lunch this past week. I failed to get a photo. Sigh. We (Peggy Weiss, David Bateman, Jean Crockett, and I) met at place that specializes in Thai food, and we had a lovely time (at least I thought so, and I think they did, too). The other suspects (usual, local) did not make appearances, so I encourage you, Dear Readers, not to give their assessments of the kind of time we (those of us who actually did assemble) had at this lunch. (Also, if any Dear Reader plans to visit the SET neighborhood, please let us know and we shall scare up a local or two for a lunch meeting.)
In lieu of a photo of the lunch bunch, I offer this image of a food bowl that I made recently. It has black beans as a base with spoonsful of rice added and a generous dollop of salsa fresca (some folks say, “pica de gallo”) on the top.1
There is a water back in the upper right, but that is not for reducing the hotness of the salsa. Rather than spreading the spicy oils of the salsa with water, I usually have crackers, tortillas, or chips to accompany dishes such as this. (The chips are just out of view to the right in this photo.)
Updates
Comments and restacks: Thanks for Dick B., Jane N., and Mike G. for their contributions. If you review the week’s posts, you will be able to find them.
Although there were no new paying subscribers this past week (sigh), there were about 19 or 20 new free subscribers. The total increased by 31 in the last two weeks. SET now has well over 1300 subscribers and 1800 followers.
Over the last three weeks, the number of visitors each day has ranged from about 100 to over 1500. Here is a graph. (For those who are wondering, the low days are for days when there was no post for that day.)
Spedlettes
The posts from this past week:
Special Education Today newsletter 6(16): Who is ready to review content from the week beginning 12 October 2026?
LDA published its conference program: What can one learn at longest running conference on learning disability?
Objectives parable redux: What was in that post on SET in August 2023?
Prizes for excellence in reporting about disability: Do you know someone whose journalism about disability deserves recognition?
North Carolina approved expanded workforce training program: How will Access to Achievement improve opportunities for students with disabilities?
Following along with Sold a Story 2: How about a few images of Follow Through outcomes?
Friday catch-up notes—23 October 2026: What about stories that didn’t show up as a full post this week?
Teach or teach not: When is it accurate to use the word “teach?”
So, that is the extent of the recent content. The posts were all on the free side, as I recall; they will, as a rule, move behind the pay wall in a few days.
Nothing seemed to be shared particularly frequently (at least as far as I can tell). Nothing seemed to move folks to joy or tears—save those that earned comments from Dick B., Jane N., and Mike G.
As usual, I remind you, Dear Readers, that you can readily find all the recent posts on the Web site, Special Education Today. In addition, there are links to the archive, notes that we published elsewhere, and to the clumps (sorta-kinda subject index).
Commentary
On her excellent Medical Motherhood, Shasta Kearns Moore published follow-along notes in her news round up on 25 October 2026 about the shooting at an Oregon school 15 October 2026 when a teacher and three children died and another teacher and child were injured. Since that incident, on which SET reported 17 October 2026 and about which I published an editorial 19 October 2026, I have been reading other sources.
In the latter post on SET, I included a graph that I created (using data from the Gun Violence Archive) showing deaths and injuries by guns for children and youths in the US. Since creating that graph, I found an additional source of data from David Riedman. Mr. Riedman, who has a Ph.D. and is on the faculty of Idaho State University, created the K-12 School Shooting Database. He has maintained that database since the Parkland shooting.
On October 1 2026, Mr. Riedman published a batch of bar graphs showing data about school shootings in “How many school shootings in September 2026?: The total number of shootings and victims at k-12 schools in the United States continues to trend down for the start of the new school year.” One graph provided the incidence of school shootings from 2010-2026 (with 2026 only updated through September of that year). It looked like this:
Mr. Reidman presented many other graphs on the topic of school shootings. His work is very informative.
Of course, Mr. Reidman has a post about the recent shooting at Silver Rail elementary in Bend, Oregon. In it he noted a commonality across the recent shooting and many others. The post is entitled “Silver Rail Elementary school shooter developed an ‘obsession with Nazism’: The throughline in school shooters from the 1960s to the 2020s is reading and posting nazi content, drawing nazi symbols, and wearing nazi uniforms, patches, and pins during their attacks.” It is a long—and, for me, shiver-filled—post.
My take aways from what I’ve learned:
As special educators and parents of kids with disabilities, we have a duty to care for our kids. Some of them may be especially vulnerable; they may be incapable of employing recommended strategies (run, hide) in shooting situations.
Also, as special educators and parents, we should become hyper aware of behaviors Mr. Reidman described in his “through line” post. We should work with other teachers and parents to have a system for monitoring for such behaviors, reporting, and intervening appropriately.
To the extent that this matter is a reflection of a broader and perhaps more abstract societal trends, l think we have a role as humans and fellow citizens to refuse to support glorification of ideologies that are predicted on nazi and nazi-like principles. We, obviously, should resist the idea that some humans are inherently superior to others, that society should purge itself of members of undesirable groups, that individuals with disabilities are a liability for society.
So, as usual, let me conclude with admonitions to take care of yourselves, Dear Readers, and to take care of our kids, and to think about how important it is to promote understanding of disability and special education. We really do need to teach our kids well.
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
Founder and editor, Special Education Today
Footnote
Readers who have been hanging around SET for a bit might remember that I’ve mentioned salsa fresca in newsletters published 4 September 2023 and 29 April 2024.