Yes, another Monday, another newsletter. And, yes, it is the usual weekly newsletter of Special Education Today, this one for the week beginning 27 October 2025. In this edition readers will find a photo, a few notes about the status of SET, an ersatz table of contents listing the posts from the previous week, and brief commentary about appreciating our colleaues.
Photo
It’s autumn here in central Virginia. I’ve often shown Dear Readers images of Halloween decorations on neighborhood fences, mailboxes, yards, and front porches at this time of year, but I haven’t been out in the ‘hood lately, so I have no new Halloween photos to offer. Sigh. However I do have this one from a tad south of our back yard that I can supply.
Caution! Does that appear to be a level gravel trail through the woods with nicely maintained curbs along its edges? It is not. As careful readers (lookers?) will have noted, there is suspicious shiny surface in the bottom right and the top (distant) center. The apparent path is actually the leaf-covered surface of a creek. If one went for a stroll along that lovely path, one would want to wear waders, because one would be ankle- and knee-deep in water and working to maintain balance on slippery rocks beneath the leafy surface.
I thought it was pretty in its way and offered an opportunity to note how things sometimes aren’t what they may appear to be. You, Dear Readers, may spin up your own connections to situations where misperceptions occur.
Status notes
SET seems to be stuck in the just-greater-than-1000 range of subscriptions (>1300 if I count all the followers). However, there has been an influx of subs in the last days of this past week (see the welcomes).
Welcome to new subscribers, especially Joel I., Bill R., and Sicong W.—Thank you each for becoming supporters of SET and also for your back-channel communications via e-mail. You represent the folks for whom SET was built and I greatly appreciate your contributions. What is more, I think the three of you represent the largest weekly class of paid subscribers since the very first weeks of SET welcoming paid subscribers. Thanks to you!
Although subscribers from the US make up the largest part of the base (83%), many subscribers come from Australia, the UK, Morocco, and Canada. Yes, one in six of us in not from the US.1
Welcome, too, to new subscribers Joleen C, Dia, Xub, NHKJ, Belinda S., Tara McH., Elsa D., Chandler P., and Annmarie U. What a wonderful week for adding subscribers! Thanks for joining forces with all the other subscribers from around Earth.
Here’s letting Callie O., Mike N., Clay K., Jane B., and anyone else who commented this past week know that those interactions are especially appreciated. It was nice that y’all sent good wishes my way. I’m better, thanks!
Speaking of paid subscribers, let me tip my cap to just a few of you: Angelique W., Bob P., Christine T., Clay K., Dan H., Ed M., Ed P., Janet J., Joel M., Kristin S., Larry M., Linda L., Mary-Anne L., Michele M., Mike N., Pam S., Adelaide D., Amelia M., Christine T., MBH, Michele M., Sally B., and all the others whom I didn’t locate with this most recent search, but whose paid subs I greatly appreciate.
And to Anita A., Li-Yu H., Kathy M., and Mike G. who are founding supporters. These are the Dear Readers who are making it possible for SET to persist, to have great content, and to reach out around Earth. We should all let them know we appreciate their support. Thanks, y’all.
Table of spedlettes
Herewith, the posts from the week beginning 20 October 2025. I wrote all of the posts this week, so I’m not putting authors’ initials at the end of each one.
Special Education Today newsletter 5(16): Who wants to take a look back at a newsy week?
Residential facility staff member died after being kicked by resident: What is known about an incident that led to the death of a care giver?
More talk about moving US federal special education functions: Might the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services move to another cabinet office?
Reading: Running around the wrong tree...and barking again: Is this article in The Atlantic just another misleading analysis?
CEC updates on current events: Do you want to know what’s happening in public policy?
Paul Hamilton White, 1951-2025: Mr. White, who helped make community living possible for many Wisconsin citizens, passed away 17 June 2025
Hey, that’s it for this past week. I did not overwhelm you, Dear Readers, with a host of posts. In part, the number of posts reflects my health for the past two weeks. And, here’s the bad news: I’m coming out of it. You may want to put up your flood walls. I have a few posts in the hopper and I hope to get them to y’all in the coming weeks.
As usual, I want you to know that these posts will be available “on the free side” for 10 days after they are published (save the week’s newsletter, which will remain free). Of course, they’ll continue to be available in the archives for those who have a paid subscription.
Please remember that readers can always keep up with the latest posts by going to the home page for Special Education Today. Even if I don’t send a post to subscribers by e-mail, I post them all on the Web site. Oh! And I encourage readers to get the Substack app for their portable devices so that all their Substack subscriptions can be readily at hand (haha) in one place with quick access to posts.
Comments
In real life, I did not know Paul White, about whom I wrote this past week. Although there were temporal parallels in our careers, our paths did not, as far I remember, cross. We both worked in special education and similar disability-adjacent areas at about the same times, though in different parts of the US—but actually in pretty close proximity in the mid 1970s in Illinois and Wisconsin. We didn’t run in the same academic circles. We both probably knew some of the same people because of that work. Still, in writing about his life, I developed great admiration for what he did.
Unlike academic stars whom SET has recognized, Paul White’s work fully deserves accolades and his life deserves remembering. To be sure, the names of Jim Kauffman, Dick Woodcock, Lynn Fuchs, and Rud Turnbull (to mention some who have passed in the last year or so), catch one’s eye quickly, and they deserve recognition for their contributions.
Paul White’s name in a headline would likely only draw recognition from relatively few readers. But his contributions to special education, and the efforts of others like him are critical to the success of special education. It’s folks like Paul White, Margaret Kelly Carroll and Kim Bright who carry the water, chop the wood for the fire, work with the teachers, help the families, and bring special education to the world.
It’s a mistake for us to get all caught up in the debates about policies and procedures and forget that we have to deliver special education services. As important as we might think it is to work toward realizing research-based practice (and I’m talking to myself here), we have to recognize that practice, itself, is critically important. Those who practice special education, whether it is at the level of direct services, professional preparation, organizational volunteering, or other ways, deserve our admiration and support.
I could go on…but, meanwhile, please remember to support your local special educator, wear your seatbelts, keep safe and civil relations with folks, and stay healthy. And, as ought to go without saying, remember to teach our children well.
Happy Halloween,
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D., UVA Professor Emeritus, Founder & Editor, https://www.SpecialEducationToday.com/
p.s., Once you’ve subscribed to SET, please consider donating some time (or even $$!) to efforts to promote peace, equity, justice, and effective special education. There are plenty of worthy non-profits; I’m sure you can find them.
SET should not be confused with a product that uses 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 should not be construed as promoting that organization nor should the views expressed here be considered to represent the views or policies of that organization.
Footnote
Ice breaker: Please walk around…talk with each other. Find out what you have in common. Ask, “Ohh, wow. I’ve seen that in OZ. Is it true in Ireland, too?”