Special Education Today newsletter 5(22)
Are you ready for a look at last week's SET...and at 50 years ago?
It’s time for another edition of the recurring newsletter for Special Education Today. I hope you are ready for it! Grab a suitable beverage for your time of day and your part of Earth and settle in for this issue which covers the week that began 24 November 2025.
According to my Substack dashboard, this is the 1510th post for SET. I do not want to argue that the exact number of posts particularly important, but I do like the perspective that it provides about the history of our community. And many members of the community will be able to predict the overall content that’s coming: (a) photo, (b) update on SET’s status, (c) catalog of posts, and (d) comments.
Photo
Just next to our front porch, Pat has a planting that includes the red (say it with me: red) flowers shown here. Those who know Pat will not be surprised to see that there are a couple of birds in the area. Although they are statues, the blue gray figures in the background represent some version of the wonderful wading birds in the Ardeidae family. I’m not sure what species the artist used for a model, but the species in the family and the images created by the artist are lovely.
SET status
As of this past week, Substack indicated that there are > 1040 subscribers for SET. Yay. We’ve been lurking in that range for weeks, but the community has grown a tad over the month of November.
About 90 subscribers support SET financially. These Dear Readers help to make it possible to distribute SET to others, pay the bills, and such. Laura M. joined the supporters this week. Welcome and thanks, Laura! You joined with other contributing subscribers, including1 Bob P., Debbie R., Joel M., Xu F., Janet J., Vicki W., Jim S., Michael K. Ed M., Ed P, Linda L. Bev J., Marilyn F., Roberta B., Susan O, Jane B., Jim P., Mick N., Mike C., Carol W., Michele M. Paula C., Pam S-1 and Pam S-2, Dimitris A., Kathleen McM., Larry M., Bryan W., John U., Gerry W., Vincent C. Bill R., Callie O., Bear A., and almost 60 others.
Jane B. and Mike N. (twice) were the commenters this week. They comment pretty regularly, as many of you may realize. I keep hoping some other supporting subscribers will follow their lead, engage with them “on the boards.”
Welcome to those who have started free subscriptions this week. Tip of the cap to Julia T., Ashly, Julia M.-B. as well as some new followers (hey, Michael P., Chris P.). Welcome to the neighborhood! May you find the content, including the comments from those listed in the previous paragraphs, informative and, I hope, both engaging and enjoyable.
And, while I’m shouting out to readers, let me express my appreciation to the writers among us. Thanks to Li-Yu Hung for her contribution to a post (2?) this past week and to the other contributing authors for SET: John Romig, David Bateman, Mandy Rispoli, Mitch Yell, and Paula Martins. I hope to publish many more articles by these folks in the coming months.
And, DRs, please keep on sharing SET in whatever ways you can. Copy and share URLs, forward posts; talk about SET in your meetings, classes, or walks with buddies…or just click the share button.
SetLets
Given the holiday here in the US, it was a shortened week in a way. I admit to some slackness. So, this list (authors’ initials in brackets) may seem a little meager in comparison with some over the past months.
Special Education Today newsletter 5(21): Want some idea about what’s happening in SET land? [JWL]
Disability advocacy organizations rebut claim that US ED will not be missed: What did some organizations claim in an editorial responding to the US Secretary of Education’s assertion? [JWL]
Back to Zig Engelmann: Just some recollections.... [JWL]
US president called Minnesota governor “seriously retarded”: Did POTUS throw fuel on the fire under efforts to stop use of the R word? [JWL]
Asia Federation on Intellectual Disabilities conference 2025: 心智障礙者共融聚會--第二十七屆亞洲智能障礙聯盟大會在臺灣 [JWL]
Talking vaccines with each other: What can we learn from a survey of US citizens’ opinions about vaccine research and policy? [JWL]
A celebration of equity, participation, and well-being in Taiwan: The 27th conference of Asia Federation on Intellectual Disabilities [L-YH]
Please note that the fifth and seventh posts overlap. I mistakenly posted a version of Li-Yu’s post before she was ready for it to be published. I published the up-dated the corrected version a day later and then replaced the content from the previous post with a pointer to the corrected one.
Subscribers—both supporting and free—know the value of getting immediate notices of new posts. Join with them by subscribing to SET.
Notes
All right! Let’s get going!
A previous time when I mistakenly sent a message ahead of schedule was in November 2021, when I sent an email early. I wanted to celebrate the signing of signed Public Law 94-142 on the 46th anniversary of US federal support of special education and I eventually did so on 29 November 2021. Since that time, we here on SET have published other posts celebrating the anniversary of the US law’s (search for them in the archives).
P.L. 94-142 was a landmark case. It provided legal access to a free appropriate education for our kids. That is the entire freaking game. Our kids can no longer be told to stay away from the doors of schools because of their atypical bodies and behavior. And the schools have to provide not just access to education, but access to an appropriate education based on our kids’ individual needs.
I think most of us—yes, it’s the Dear Readers of this rag—think The Law and efforts to realize it have had a net positive effect. We don’t want to go back to the times when authorities told many parents to send their kids to hospitals. We want kids to teach. our kids to read, write, compute, and get along with others, not just get promoted according to age.
But, IDEA (as we know call 94-142 after many modifications) seems to be threatened. Some critics say that giving our kids services costs too damn much. Some say that providing special education discriminates against kids who don’t have disabilities. Some say that schools are not truly delivering appropriate education. Some say making sure that our kids can share or choose situations and experiences is what special education should really be about. Some say that special education is broken.
In addition to those critiques of special education mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, some politician seem to be riding political movements that propose reducing the influence and size of government on education. Changes such as eliminating the “bureaucracy” and “red tape” in government may actually run counter to the principles of 94-142. They may reduce the guarantee of a free and appropriate education. The topic has been in the US news for months.
What is more, at least one influential political leader in the US has mimicked behavior of individuals with disabilities and referred to another political leader as having intellectual disabilities. People may say that the mocking of Serge Kovaleski was an innocent imitation of what people do when they are unnerved or upset. People may say that saying Governor Tim Walz is “seriously retarded” is just an innocent way of saying that the person with whom one disagrees hasn’t thought about topics in a forward thinking way. Hmmm.
I not only may say but I shall bluntly assert this: When public policy is threatening practices that support individuals with disabilities and when leaders use references to disabilities in disparaging ways, it is time for those of us who give a damn about individuals with disabilities to speak openly, clearly, repeatedly, in support of our kids and policies and practices that help them.
I like to think of the US as providing ethical-moral and practical leadership on lots of issues, but especially on those issues associated with disability. I may differ with some folks of my country about the policies and practices, but those differences are about relatively petty matters. The topics with which I differ with friends and colleagues are not about dismantling special education and about disrespecting individuals with disabilities. When it comes to those issues, I advocate a “hard no.”
So, let this anniversary of PL 94-142 be a chance to all of us to stand again, perhaps in lines on sidewalks, and say something like, “Make damn sure our kids are protected. Our kids deserve the very respect and opportunities that any other kids—any other humans—deserve.”
Now, as regular readers know, I consider it important to advocate for children and youth with disabilities (and their families), to learn about developmental, psychological, sociological, and political aspects of disability. To do so, and to use that knowledge (to act on it) requires that we are strong. So, please remember to take care of yourselves and your colleagues (including kids and parents). Keep the special education community safe. And be sure you're using evidence-based methods to help our kids to survive and thrive. Please help ensure that we all teach our students well.
In solidarity,
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
Founder and Editor, Special Education Today
Footnote
As usual, I’ve identified people by first name and initial, thus providing a little anonymity for subscribers. That’s also a little leftover from when there were two faculty members named “John” on the UVA faculty in special education. I distinguished myself from the late John Mesinger by signing my notes as “JohnL.”