Special Education

At its core, special education is about the individual. In its ideal form, special education provides the structure by which people with exceptionalities may be provided with appropriate adaptations and/or modifications to their environments such that they have the opportunity to reach their individual potential. The field of special education, moving out of its infancy, is still grappling with just how this ideal can be achieved. Researchers are building off of past [Page 925]successes in an effort to conceptualize new and exciting approaches to the education of individuals with exceptional needs.

The United States is one of the most progressive countries in the world with regard to the enculturation of people with exceptionalities into the fabric of its society. This has not always been the case, and indeed, the United States continues to be challenged by its call to have all of its citizens reach their individual potential. For most of its brief existence, the field of special education has been attempting to find a productive role to address this societal challenge.

Since its conception less than 40 years ago, progress regarding this lofty goal has been debatable. Some may argue that special education programming has not changed fundamentally since the mid-1970s. Others can see the vast and important changes that have taken place, recognizing the abilities of people instead of their disabilities. It is encouraging that special education maintains a place at the forefront of the minds of educational researchers who continue to refine and redefine the important field designed to meet the needs of individuals with exceptionalities.