Special Education Today newsletter—6(1)
What was happening the first week of July 2026?
SET’s back!
Special Education Today’s newsletter begins its sixth volume with this issue. After a hiatus for the last couple of weeks of June 2026, my colleagues and I are returning to bombard you, Dear Readers, with news, resources, comments, and other content about special education and about children and youths with disabilities and their families.
This issue of the newsletter recaps content from the end of June through 5 July 2026. It has what I expect is a familiar structure: photo, status update, list of spedlettes, and commentary.
Away we go!
Photo
On 4 July 2026 there were intense storms over central Virginia.1 True to form, the local box turtles came out of their woody domains after the storm. I have often seen in these conditions. Perhaps they are looking for hares to race?
Pat caught this one on an our front walkway after a deluge. I think I have identified it correctly as a Terrapene Carolina, but if you know better, please let me know. According to a story from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the number of box turtles is declining, but research and conservations efforts are underway.
This one is pretty safe. It’s living in Pat’s yard, which is a haven for flora and fauna.
Status update
For the beginning of Volume 6, the SET community is composed of approximately 100 paying subscribers, three of whom—Mike G., Kathy M., and Anita A.—make additional financial contributions to help support the community. From time to time over the coming issues, I’ll randomly draw the names of a few of these subscribers and recognize them in these pages. For now, I want to express our on-going appreciation for their donations. Thank you!
There are also over 1100 free subscribers. In addition, there are several 100 “followers” (people who read the feed for SET or one or more of SET’s authors.
Thus, the audience for SET is about 1700 people on Substack. About 80% are from the US with the remainder coming from all around Earth—Australia, the UK, Canada, Morocco, and more.
Authors
I am pleased to have a group of well-informed and caring colleagues who contribute to SET. Readers can expect to see contributions from Ana Paula Loução Martins, David Bateman, Elizabeth Talbott, John Romig, Li-Yu Hung, Mandy Rispoli, and Mitchell Yell. They are also listed on the “about page.” Go follow them, as they may be publishing other content that might now appear on SET.
Stats
Traffic for the SET Web site was, unsurprisingly, slower in June 2026. Generally, on a monthly basis 4-8000 visitors read pages on SET. Here is a graph showing the reads per week for SET for the months July 2025 through July 2026.
So, SET is perking along….
Spedlettes
The list of spedlettes for this issue of the newsletter is an unusual in that it includes posts from a wider range of dates. I have added posts since the last issue of the newsletter from Volume 5.
On the mend: It’s just the beginning, but they didn’t kill me!
2026 USA Special Olympics begins 20 June: Who’s ready for a lot of people taking great risks and achieving great outcomes?
Not dead yet...: How ‘bout another road-to-recovery post?
Happy FD!: How about some good wishes for all those fathers in SET-land?
Carnine: R. Lyon on research about reading: What would Reid write that caused Doug to pass it along?
Retro: Barbash: Fix affirmative action by fixing k-12 instruction: What in the world was in this 2016 post on Teach Effectively?
Socks design competition for WDS: What design might one enter in the annual World Down Syndrome competition for socks?
Year 6 begins with new images: What might be forthcoming in the newest volume for the special education community
Depression in the news: Shouldn’t we pursue this teachable moment?
It’s water safety time for kids with disabilities: What could we do to prevent children with autism and other disabilities from drowning?
Friday catch-up notes—3 July 2026: How about a few tidbits didn’t show up as full posts this week?
Influential articles in learning disabilities: What were people reading 25-30 years ago in the journal Learning Disability Quarterly?
Readers will discover that some of these posts are behind the paywall. Some posts start out as reserved for paying subscribers and patrons; others (except the weekly newsletters) go behind the wall after 10 days. A list of all posts, whether free or paid, is available at the “archive” link on the SET home page.
Comments
As those who followed along with the individual posts over the past few weeks know, I had arthroplasty in June. Surgeons replaced the head of the femur and the hip bone of my right hip (the left one was replaced 8-9 years ago).
Things went quite well, as I understand, for the surgery itself and the first ~five days of recovery. However, in the very early hours of Saturday morning, I was suddenly having intense, shooting pain in the entire right leg. After discussions with Pat and the on-call orthopedist, I went to the UVA Hospital Emergency Department, transported on a stretcher out of the house and then by ambulance to the ED. I stayed in the hospital for four days while the MDs figured out what they thought was going wrong.
I have been home for five days and am feeling better. Less pain, reduced swelling, etc. I am not “right,” though. I have an appointment this coming week with the surgical team.
I am possessed with additional appreciation of the limitations that some individuals with disabilities encounter.
Footnote
The annual naturalization ceremony at neighboring Monticello apparently went off without a hitch. Monticello’s people posted videos.