Welcome to this 42nd issue of the newsletter for the first year of Special Education Today. After an update about the health of SET, appreciation for readers, and the current contents, I'll provide a bit of the usual personal reflections.

Status update

SET did not grow this past week, but neither did it contract. There were no unsubscribes and there were no new subscriptions. Despite the apparent ineffectiveness of my efforts to increase email subscriptions, please continue to share SET! Forward. Tweet. Share. Tell friends and others!

Flashes of the electrons

Part of the reason the community has grown over previous weeks (if not this most recent one) is that SET pals interacted with the magazine. I want to acknowledge them here.

• Top commenters for the last week were Jane B. (welcome back, Jane!), Sheldon H., Clay K., & Lorraine S. It's wonderful to see all your contributions appear on the Web site. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone.)

• Likers for the week were Jane B., Adria H., Sheldon H., Clayton K., Lorraine S., and Ashley R. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to click (one or more times) the like button on posts or others' comments. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone; I’m hoping for all the likes SET can garner!)

• Thanks to Sarah H., Ed M., Annmarie U., Beth P., Cindy O., Sheldon H., Corey P., Jana E., and Gulnoza Y. for opening the recent mailings repeatedly! You’re not alone; there are hundreds of opens every week.

Thanks to all y’all who have followed @speciadedtoday. Twitter’s a great way to keep up with what’s happening with SET. Betsy T. and Tina C. have been wonderful about tagging SET in that venue!

And I enjoyed corresponding back channels with Tina C.

Table of contents for the past week

Here’s what I published on the site since the last issue of this newsletter:

• Another reflection on teaching phonics—Why do some people say that it’s wrong?

• CODA keeps on teaching!—What can we learn from interviews with Deaf actors?

• Post-secondary education for individuals with disabilities—Can we learn to “ThinkCollege” from “Autism Goes to College?”

• Improving ventilation in schools—Would better air help prevent infections?

• Friday photos #18—Jonté Taylor—Why would one want to know about "JT?"

Be sure to check the Web site to keep current. You’ll find an HTML formated version of this newsletter (much prettier than the funky version that comes in the e-mail) as well as any newer posts.

Commentary

I continue to have concerns about multiple matters regarding teaching students with disabilities. I’m fretful about, specifically, why we can teach Cichlids and Stingrays to do math, but we struggle with teaching human youngters. There are many additional examples, and I plan to return to them…patience, please.

I think the answers to that question teaaching point to our “too-cognitve” approach to teaching. We get sucked into ideas that are predicated on human introspection (and research based on that introspection). So, I’m thinking (teehee) about a series of posts illustrating a behavioral analysis of cognition. It may turn into a full-on challenge to many cherished notions about how unique and special we humans are. Please stay tuned.

As usual, I want to make those recommendations that subscribers will find familiar: Wear your seatbelts, wash your hands regularly, gather with others in well-ventilated spaces, get vaccinated and help others to do so. And, of course, teach your children well.

—JohnL

SET Editor guy
Charlottesville, VA

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SET should not be confused with a product with the same name that is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. Despite my appreciation of CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization.