In the United States, approximately 2.5 million students are diagnosed as having a learning disability and the majority of those children are placed in special education because of an inability to read as expected. As a result of this diagnosis, these children may be placed in special education classrooms - classrooms that are separate from the `mainstream' population. For children with learning disabilities, there is likely no place, other than in school, where a student's inability to read as expected leads to this separation from his/her peers. Once school is over, these children play alongside the kids in their neighbourhoods, participate in sports teams, and attend community activities. This book looks at the impact of being labelled as learning disabled and separated from peers in school through the eyes of Samson, a middle school student described both as learning disabled and a non-reader. This qualitative case study explores how Samson, his family, his teachers and this researcher make sense of special education and the complexities of learning to read as an adolescent. Throughout this book, there is a contrasting of the laws and procedures designed to guide special education, with the actual experiences of those impacted by these laws and procedures. Through the three years that Samson was in middle school, this book investigates his perspective on his classes, his interpretation of what it means to `be' a student in special education, and the process by which he learns to read. How disability gets created, contested, and discussed is highlighted through the many contexts that allow disability to be recognised and to fade into the background.

From an ill-considered attempt to transport Silver the horse in a VW microbus to the horse-training rookies who end up being dragged across the countryside in a rowboat, this endearing collection of 14 short stories reveals the funny side of man's efforts to bridle the horse.

Step outside of the IEPs and behavioral paperwork currently generated in schools, go where disabled people are thriving today, and see the results in learning, growth, and expression. This authoritative book offers readers alternative ways to think about learning and behavior in special education. Through illustrative case studies and a disability studies lens, author Erin McCloskey uses the voices of people with disabilities to show how these students progress creatively outside the classroom and school building-at the dojo, the riding arena, the theater stage, the music studio, and other community-centered spaces where disabled students can make choices about their learning, their bodies, and their goals. Balancing theory and practice, the book describes alternative learning spaces, demonstrates how disabled students learn there, and passes on the important lessons learned in each space. The ideas apply to students of all ages with a wide variety of disabilities. Book Features: Uses the voices of people with disabilities to promote alternative ways to think about learning and behavior in special education. Presents rich case studies and briefer interludes to illustrate how disabled students are learning and thriving in surprising ways outside of school where they have opportunities to explore. Distills important key takeaways from each case study through chapter sections of "lessons learned." Promotes informed discussion of the concepts in the book with questions at the end of each chapter. Combines theory and practice to help readers put the concepts into action in a variety of settings with a variety of disabled students.

In the United States, approximately 2.5 million students are diagnosed as having a learning disability and the majority of those children are placed in special education because of an inability to read as expected. As a result of this diagnosis, these children may be placed in special education classrooms - classrooms that are separate from the `mainstream' population. For children with learning disabilities, there is likely no place, other than in school, where a student's inability to read as expected leads to this separation from his/her peers. Once school is over, these children play alongside the kids in their neighbourhoods, participate in sports teams, and attend community activities. This book looks at the impact of being labelled as learning disabled and separated from peers in school through the eyes of Samson, a middle school student described both as learning disabled and a non-reader. This qualitative case study explores how Samson, his family, his teachers and this researcher make sense of special education and the complexities of learning to read as an adolescent. Throughout this book, there is a contrasting of the laws and procedures designed to guide special education, with the actual experiences of those impacted by these laws and procedures. Through the three years that Samson was in middle school, this book investigates his perspective on his classes, his interpretation of what it means to `be' a student in special education, and the process by which he learns to read. How disability gets created, contested, and discussed is highlighted through the many contexts that allow disability to be recognised and to fade into the background.