Special Education Today newsletter 5(2)
Who's ready for a look back at the week that just was? (If not, delete and wait'll next week!)
Howdy, Dear Readers! It’s that time again, the time for a retrospective on the previous week. As indicated in the title, it’s the second issue of the fifth volume in the publication of Special Education Today. If you are thinking this is getting a little old, you’re right! And those of you DRs who have been reading right along since the proverbial get-go are stuck with the realization that you’ve gotten 40% of a decade older since you started reading SET.1
Before continuing with the usual contents (photo, updates, list of posts, comments), please allow me to express my thanks to all of you for reading SET. I hope that it is providing informative, useful, and valuable content. Here comes another 15-1600 words for you.
Photo
On our pretty-much-0regular walk along the Rivanna River, I was lagging behind (what’s new?) so I got the reward of being able to watch a little flotilla of ducks swim down the river. The ducklings and their mother (I presume) were making pretty good time. The hen had her ducklings well oriented, if not in a row. The ducklings were drafting in her wake, taking advantage of the adult’s movement through the water to make their own swim a bit easier.
Although I suspect there is some instinct involved in the ducklings following the way that they do, there are well-studied principles of physics at work, too. I also suspect that there is some reinforcement learning going on in this.
On the physics: The ducklings swimming behind the hen have the advantage of being able to “swim downhill.” Frank Fish (1995; that’s his real name) and Zhi-Ming Yuan and colleagues (2021) received an Ig Nobel Award recognizing their work on this topic at the 2022 ceremony.
On the learning: I suspect that ducklings become more adept at staying in a row as they do more swimming. Both positive and negative reinforcement are processes that may build their skill. When a duckling “gets in line,” she does not have to expend as much energy to swim along with her mother hen and its siblings. That getting in the row reduces the effort (negative reinforcement) and provides (or sustains) the access to positive condition of being with the family. Multiple contingencies—in this case making it easier and access to sibs and the hen—are powerful behavior modifiers! Quack-quack!
Update
At the top of this section this week, I want to express my thanks for Kathy M., Mike G., and Li-Yu H. who have been patrons of SET for years. These folks’ contributions are making it possible to expand SET’s content and reach. Also, welcome to Fang X. and Jenni R., who (along with Bev J., Linda L., Susan O., Ed M., Vicki W., Joel M., Jim S., Clay K., Esther F., Bob P., Nancy C.-W., Maryanne L., Jim P., Jen W., Rhonda B., Michael K., Jane B., Marilyn F., Mike N., Luann D., Angelique W., Rebecca S., June R., Carol W., Michele M., Jean C., Kristen McM., Ed P., Larry M., Bryan W., Demetris A., Kata S., Kimmy L., Kristin S., Melody T., and about 50 others) are deserving of my enduring appreciation. This is only a partial list of folks with paid subscriptions. But, these subscribers are a major part of the reason that SET will be providing new features in the coming year. Thank you!
Also, welcome to new subscribers. Agnus R., Smashley R., Susan D., Lise S., Katie F., Tim D., Shannon C., Callie O., and Lise S. joined the list of Dear Readers this past week. They’ve helped push SET closer to having 1000 subscribers. (Sadly, we lose a few each month; therefore, I get a little joy juice when new folks subscribe).
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were as many subscribers to SET as there have been posts? This post will be the 1348th. There were over 5000 visits to posts last week. Although nothing seemed to “go viral” last week, that still seems to be a pretty healthy readership for this little niche publication.
Catalog of posts
Some of you DRs will recall that I “at 6s & 7s” about what to call this section. I mislabeled it a “table of contents” sometimes in the past. It’s not that. I dunno. Sigh. Suggestions welcome.
Special thanks to David Bateman for his contributions this past week. David co-authored two of the posts. At the end of each post I’ve added the initials of the author(s); that way, discerning readers can directly to the posts to which David contributed and avoid the drivel.
Anyway, here is a list (an “ordered list” in HTML talk) of the posts from last week. It begins with the newsletter for last week (did I mention that it appeared on the anniversary of my mother’s birth?).
Special Education Today newsletter 5(1): What's been happening while I was away...well, sorta-kinda away? (JWL)
British Prime Minister talked special education: What does the government leader have to say? (JWL)
School staff members fired over abuse case: What in the world has been happening in Pennsylvania's Central Bucks School District? (JWL, DB)
Report about Virginia IDEA compliance released: Will the recommendations for settling long-sanding concerns be adopted? (JWL, DB)
US lobbyist's observations about dismantling ED: Is it time to fade into the background? (JWL)
TX flood washes away employee at facility for kids with disabilities: Why should we care about those people who work to help out kids? (JWL)
My mugs shots: 1: What's the message on the cup from which I'm drinking today? (JWL)
Camp counsellor who was devoted to children with disabilities died in Texas flooding: Remembering Katherine Ferruzzo.
If you missed any of these posts, you may still be able to read them. Paying subscribers can always see them as a benefit of their subscriptions. Free members may see those that are not yet behind the paywall; most posts are available for free for 10 days from the date of their publication. The weekly newsletters remain available in some approximation of perpetuity. Take the opportunity to read the free ones now! Better yet, if you want to be able to return to them any time later, please become a paying subscriber and ensure your access to all the posts in the archives.
Commentary
Whenever there are catastrophic events such as flooding in the US (both Texas and New Mexico), Pakistan, and India or earthquake in Guatemala, I think about the children. When I think about children, I often think about those who have disabilities and those who work with them.
So far, from what I have been able to ascertain, among the many children who died in the recent flooding in the US, none have been identified as having disabilities. The only deaths that mention children with disabilities are the losses of Sherry Richardson and Katherine Ferruzzo. Ms. Richardson was the employee of Hope House, a residential facility for children with disabilities in central Texas (covered in”TX flood washes away…”), and Ms. Ferruzzo (“Camp counsellor who was devoted…”) was a counselor at Camp Mystic who aspired to become a special education teacher.
Children and youths lost their lives in the Texas and other recent catastrophic events. That is a cause to mourn. Also, many adults lost their lives…another cause to mourn. At least two of those adults were working to make the lives of kids with disabilities better, and that is an especially powerful reason, to me, to mourn. Ms. Ferruzzo and Ms. Richardson were on the job, directly connected with our kids. They deserve our thanks in addition to the love and admiration that they will receive from their own families, kids’ families, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances.
In my view, we have an obligation—maybe even a moral duty—to acknowledge the care, courage, kindness, and thoughtfulness of our colleagues who put in the time with our kids. No matter whether we identify as parents, administrators, professors, policy makers, psychologists, or have some other connection, we ought to rise to our feet and proclaim our support for people in the proverbial trenches. We might even be people on the ground ourselves, but all of us should pay it forward by acknowledging the burdens of providing services directly. Even if we sometimes may disagree with their ideas, we should acknowledge their work.
And we should salute those contributions while they can experience it, while they can feel the affirmation, while it can still act as a reinforcer, while it is possible for others to hear it, and even while it should have been done long ago. We should seek just compensation, working environments, and honest recognition of their efforts. We should honor those who work with our kids.
Accordingly, and in honor of Ms. Ferruzzo and Ms. Richardson, I recommend that we all look into the eyes of those who work with our kids, and say, “Thank you.”
Whatever your role in special education, thanks for what you do for our kids. And, please remember to teach our children well.
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
UVA Professor Emeritus
Founder & Editor, Special Education Today
References
Fish, F. E. (1995). Kinematics of ducklings swimming in formation: Consequences of position. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 273(1), 1-11. http://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/bio_facpub/6
Yuan, Z.-M., Chen, M., Jia, L., Ji, C., & Incecik, A. (2021). Wave-riding and wave-passing by ducklings in formation swimming. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 928, R2. https://doi.or/10.1017/jfm.2021.820
Please do not confuse SET 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 is not designed to promote that organization nor should the views expressed here be considered to represent the views or policies of that organization. Subscribing to SET does not get one any privileges with CEC.
Footnote
I recommend celebrating. Have a party for yourself!