Human Exceptionality: School, Community, and Family

The book emphasizes a positive, person-centered approach to the lives of people with exceptionalities in the twenty-first century. This approach is reinforced with a beginning-of-chapter section, "A Changing Era in the Lives of People with Disabilities" and the chapter-concluding section, "Looking Toward a Bright Future".

A helpful learning and study system includes chapter-opening "Learning Objectives" and concepts tied to major headings throughout the chapter, and chapter-ending "Chapter Review" sections. Content corresponds with the 2012 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards; icons in the margins highlight the relevant standards and standards-related material. A complete listing of the CEC Content Standards, and a handy correlation guide showing where specific standards are covered in each chapter, appear on the book's inside covers.

Popular boxed features spark individual reflection and classroom discussion. These include "Community Support for Lifelong Inclusion", which provides practical tips on ways families, educators, and the community can interact with, include, communicate with, or teach people who are exceptional throughout the individual's lifespan; "Reflect on This", which highlights interesting and relevant information about exceptionality and concludes with a question for student reflection; and "Snapshot" features that offer personal insights into the lives of individuals who are exceptional and challenge students' preconceived notions of what it means to be exceptional.

"Assistive Technology" features introduce new and exciting innovations in the use of computer-based learning, augmentative communication, and instructional design.

Education MindTap® is a first-of-its-kind digital solution that prepares future teachers by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they must demonstrate to earn an education degree and state licensure, and to begin and develop a successful career. Through activities based on real-life teaching situations, MindTap elevates students' thinking by giving them experiences in applying concepts, practicing skills, and evaluating decisions, guiding them to become reflective educators. Authentic high-quality videos filmed in real classrooms demonstrate how in-service teachers and other personnel, such as physical and occupational therapists, support students with exceptionalities using current evidence-based practices.

Delivering the most current evidence-based research available on the lives of people who are exceptional, the twelfth edition contains nearly 1,200 citations from sources published within the last decade, including many published within the last two years.

*UPDATED* Several new "Case Studies on Embracing Diversity," several of which are new, focus on people who are exceptional and come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Each Case Study includes prompts for student reflection on how to best support each individual featured. For example, students meet  Ana, a first-grader from an impoverished and abusive home environment where English language usage is limited (Ch. 5); Halgan, a recent refugee from Somalia and single mother whose son has severe disabilities (Ch. 6); ten-year-old Leon, a boy with emotional/behavioral disorders (Ch. 8); and Xeeb, a Laotian boy with a hearing loss (Ch. 13).

Major new and updated sections discuss evidenced-based practices in inclusive school programs, universal design for learning and adaptive instruction, and multi-tiered systems of support, a.k.a. response-to-intervention (Chapter 3). Other expanded coverage appears in Chapter 5, "Cultural and Linguistic Diversity"; Chapter 7, "Learning Disabilities"; and Chapter 11, "Autism Spectrum Disorders". In addition, the most current information on positive behavioral support (PBS) appears in Chapter 8, and expanded and updated coverage of attention deficit hyperactive disorder in Chapter 14.

*UPDATED* "Learning Through Social Media" boxes in each chapter provide excerpts from blogs written by people with disabilities or a family member, giving students insight into the lives of individuals with exceptionalities. These boxes also offer information about the increasing use of social media in educational programs for all students, including those with exceptionalities.