Special Education Today newsletter 5(26)
In this last week of the year, who is ready to escape 2025 and slip into 2026?
Good [morning | afternoon | evening | night], Dear Readers, and welcome to the last issue of the newsletter for the calendar year 2025. As those of us in the western hemisphere of Earth close out 2025—and anticipate the lunar new year coming in just a few weeks—it’s a good time for Special Education Today to take a look in the rear view mirror. So, in this issue of the newsletter for the week that began 21 December 2025, you’ll find the usual sections [(a) a photo, (b) some admin notes, (c) links for the previous week’s post, and (d) a sorta-commentary] all tinged with a few remembrances about the year gone by and an opportunity to comment on the calendar year we’re approaching.
Photo
It has been a long holiday season for out cats. In early December, they even had to endure a sleep over at a local hotel.
Billy needed to close his eyes and get a little rest one morning recently. Now, in truth, he naps a lot of the time, anyway.
I resisted the impulse to pet his head after I took this photo. Let sleeping cats lie, I figured. It’s nice when he’s resting, as resting is incompatible with bullying the other cat in the house (his mother!), which sometimes seems to be a frequent behavior of his.
Status update
So, as 2025 comes to a close, SET seems to be alive and well. There are more than 1050 subscribers, about 250 more than there were at this time last year. Many of y’all are quite active, checking in regularly, dropping likes, and even commenting.
Many subscribers help support SET by sustaining a paid subscription. We really appreciated their loyalty. They include (and this is only a partial list) Jen W., Nancy C-W., Bob P., Clay K., Vicki W., Julie B., Roberta B., Jim S., Esther F., Jane B., Linda L., Marilyn F., Tina C., Susan O., Debbie R., Bey J., Michael K., Jim P., Joel M., Joel I., Mike N. Isabel G., Angelique T., Carol W., Jean C., Michele M., Ed M., Ed P., Larry M., John U., Bryan W., Pam S., Jose B., Paula C., Kata S., Kimmy L., Kristin S., George S., Christy A., Sally B., Kristen A., Judy V., Luann J., Keith L., Tom Z., Laura L-D., Paige P., Ann Ryan, Nancy M., Jean S., Jim F., Meg D., Nancy S., Blaine M., Amanda H., Jane N., Fang X., Pam S. (yes another one), Anna A., Angelique W., Bear A., Callie O., Bill R., Alix H., Laura M., Jay (O.?), and others who use screen names.1
I am especially indebted to Mike G., Anita A., and Kathy M. for their patron-level support of SET. I appreciate their long-standing support and their advice.
In addition, here’s a tip of the cap and a bow to John Romig, Li-Yu Hung, Mandy Rispoli, Mitch Yell, and David Bateman for their contributions to SET this past year. These folks are enriching the publication markedly. It’s an honor to have well-regarded writers and out-standing scholars providing posts here on the site.
Every week, on average, pages on SET are viewed somewhere between 5 and 6000 times. The lowest week was about 1600 views when SET took a break last summer. The highest week as almost 12000 views in early May.
Over the past year, readers of SET have received (I’m estimating) something like > 300 articles. That’s a lot of messages in your mail boxes, Dear Readers! You (most of you, at least) have been very tolerant of the onslaught of mail messages. Thank you. I am quite happy that only a few of you have thought of the weekly flood as spam. Recognizing that many readers may be happier receiving less mail, I plan to reduce the flow over the next few months.
Still, I hope that you will help SET grow. Everyone, please tell your friends, colleagues, co-conspirators, and even enemies—especially those who have serious interests in special education and disabilities—about SET.
Ye ol’ list of spedlettes
Here’s a list of posts from the past week (beginning 22 December 2025). Remember, please, that if you miss an email notice about the publication of a post, you can always go to https://www.specialeducationtoday.com/ to see what we have published.
Special Education Today newsletter 5(25): Are we actually half way through volume 5? [JWL]
How hot—or cool—are AI-powered tutoring robots?: Is instruction guided by artificial education any more than the latest fad? [JWL]
Holiday hum-alongs: Could one of these songs become an ear worm for anyone? [Paid; JWL]
A New Yorker article on dyslexia and reading instruction: What did the widely read magazine’s report say? [JWL]
A high-quality study of subtypes of autism is available: What was this study and what does it tell us about teaching our kids? [JWL]
Okay…okay. If you feel like you were slighted this past week because there were only five articles…well, so be it. Sorry. That’s all I could squeeze out of SET central.
Notes and comments
Okay, here’s the scoop: The editorial comments will be quite limited. I’m simply providing a list of some of the most frequently read posts from the past year and then a poll about what sort of posts you, Dear Readers, would be most interested in reading in the future.
Most frequently read posts for 2025
May—Lynn S. Fuchs, 1950-2025: A giant among giants passed away
March—H. Rutherford Turnbull, III—1937-2025: The eminent advocate for students with disabilities and their families passed away 17 March 2025
October—Project 2025 and changes at the US Department of Education: Could the US be witnessing a turn away from its long-standing support of special education for students with disabilities?
June—Disability advocate survived shooting: Who is Hope Hoffman?
February—Public references to intelligence, IQ, and ID: Is the US president re-inventing the “R Word?”
Your wishes for future posts
The foregoing list shows readers votes by clicks, but what do you, Dear Paying Subscribers, want to see, regardless of whether people click on the posts? (The poling software limits the poll to five choices and readers can only pick one choice.)
Personal note
By the time I write the next newsletter, I should know whether I’ll be scheduling surgery for a hip replacement. Also I hope to have completed a period of treatment aimed at reducing the probability of cancerous growths on my pate. I hope that both will be easy.
Meanwhile, I’ll decide2 whether to pet Billy, invite him into my lap, admonish him for beating up his mother, etc.
Closing
Okay…yappy hew near! Please remember to take care of yourselves; care for your family, friends, and colleagues; do kind things for perfect strangers (e.g., drive safely); build the special-education community Earthwide; and promote teaching our kids well.
Thanks for reading!
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D., UVA Professor Emeritus, and Founder & Editor, https://www.SpecialEducationToday.com/
Footnote
Here’s a challenge for some readers: How many of the people listed here by first name and initial do you think you can name. I know these folks’ actual names (most of them, at least), but I suspect some readers have damn good guesses about who many of them are. You can test yourself by sending me a note listing your guesses.
Gotta have that cognitive twist in the newsletter, right? Cognition might not rule all, but we should acknowledge it.