SpedTalk Newsletter

29 May 2021

Volume 1, Number 2

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the second issue of the newsletter for SpedTalk. There is a lot of news that I hope to convey clearly to all of you (in my childhood, I would've written, "All y'all") readers...and there is a shipload of you more than there was recently. Yay!

There'll be (a) news about the community. In addition, of course, there will be (b) news about the content of SpedTalk over the last week. I'll also drop in some news about (c) some technical issues. And, last, I'll beg you to contribute (d) your own observations.

Subscribers

Last week I reported that there were two subscribed addresses for SpedTalk. The good news is that both of those subscribed addresses are still subscribed; no subscriber from the first week abandoned SpedTalk. (Of course, somnambulant readers will probably recognize that those first two subscribers were my own addresses.... OK, caught me red-handed.)

The even better news is that, as of the afternoon of 29 May 2021, there are > 150 subscribers. Many people who have subscribed are pals of mine from over the years—fellow professors, for example—but I simply have no idea from where many other subscribers came. Still, welcome to new subscribers!

My supposition is that many of you, dear readers, have shared links from SpedTalk with others (and I'm looking directly at you, even though you're half way around the world in OZ, Kerry Hempenstall). If you share my passion for getting trustworthy content about special education and disabilities to practicing educators, thank you for sharing! Please continue to do so!

Technical Issues

I want SpedTalk to be readily accessible. Part of doing so is creating a "brand." I've been using "SpedTalk" as a name since the early- to mid-1990s (as some readers will remember). Therefore, I am working to rename "http://spedtalk.substack.com" to "http://spedtalk.com." I have worked on this for hours the last week. I have had excellent assistance from http://dotearth.com, the domain registrar I have used for more than 20 years—let me recommend DotEarth—and also working with the support team from substack.com to make the proper connections.

I am hoping that I can complete the transition to the canonical url of SpedTalk.com in the next few days. I hope to make this happen soon! I may be a Johnny, but I’m not a Johnny-come-lately! The transition is mostly technical (ANAMEs, CNAMEs, HTTPD.config files, DNS systems, etc.), but there are some other issues. For example, there are other groups (e.g., law firms) who are using the name “spedtalk” with different capitalization and etc. But, long-time speducators know about spedtalk…so please remember to link your uses of “spedtalk” to this resource!

Current Contents

This week, you can find articles about news, editorial matters, and et cetera. Here’s the list of them:

• The US Department of Education’s guidance about re-opening schools in ways that conform to IDEA’s and Section 504’s requirements:

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/news-what-guidance-does-the-us-ed

• How about teaching social skills? This popular topic got a new update recently. Does that update’s finding provide trustworthy guidance?

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/current-research-does-teaching-social

• Editorial: What's the most effective intervention? Parents, teachers, and researchers often ask about effective interventions. How do we know which ones actually are effective?

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/editorial-whats-the-most-effective

• News: $15K bonus for special ed teachers! Should local education agencies provide bonuses to special education teachers? Given that they are greatly in demand and have specialized training, I think so!

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/15k-bonus-for-special-ed-teachers

• News: Does the pandemic continue to affect individuals with disabilities? What are the effects on individuals with disabilities? Wanta bet that the effects are beneficial?

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/news-does-the-pandemic-continue-to

• News: US NCES's Condidition of Education reported child count data show important changes in which students with disabilities get services where and when and under what categories.

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/us-ncess-condidition-of-education

• News: A new analysis by the Brookings Institute contends that special education is both beneficial and problematic. Read "New report calls sped "beneficial to many, harmful to others" and see whether you agree.

  https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/news-new-report-calls-sped-beneficial

Your observations

Please comment on posts. This is the Level-1 Beg. I need your help…and it should come in the form of engaging in discussions.

One of the foremost reasons that I built SpedTalk (and its successors, siblings, and cousins) is to engender civil, informed, and collegial discussion of matters that concern individuals with disabilities, their parents and teachers, and others who give a darn about those matters. In this moment in the SpedTalk newsletter. I encourage readers not simply to read the posts, but to comment on them, to crituque them, to discuss them with others who comment on them, to contribute to the commonweal of individuals with disabilities (and those who care about them) by helping to promote evidence-based and logic-informed conversation.

So, I hope all y'all are well, safe, and happy. Even as you leave your cocoons and even as venture forth without masks (if y'all are vaccinated!), please remember to alert others about SpedTalk, send me notes about your observations about SpedTalk, and especially drop comments on articles.

And please remember to teach your children well.

JohnL

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