Introduction to Special Education provides an applied approach to children with disabilities by using specific and well-grounded research and suggestions to focus on how the educational practices impact the lives of children, their families, and their teachers.

The Fourth Edition retains the overall organization that was perfected in its previous editions, with a basic overview of the field provided in the early chapters, and then the categories of disability and giftedness covered in order of incidence. This edition also introduces a new and unique way of looking at the field of special education in the new millennium, seeking to both examine its history and present the challenges and opportunities for its future.