Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education

Citation

Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., & Pullen, P. C. (2022). Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education (15th ed.). Pearson.

Chapter Summary

The fifteenth edition, published by Pearson in 2022 (copyright 2023), runs to about 480 pages in fifteen chapters. The authors' preface describes it as a general introduction to the characteristics of exceptional learners and their education, with "exceptional" used, as it traditionally has been, for both people with disabilities and people who are gifted. The book emphasises classroom practice together with the psychological, sociological and medical aspects of disabilities and giftedness. Pearson says this edition strengthens its focus on evidence-based content, with more than 400 new references. It also expands coverage of identification and assessment, including the role and effectiveness of response to intervention (RTI) and multitiered systems of support, and adds extensive new coverage of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. The first four chapters set out the field. The other eleven take one category of exceptionality each.

The previous (fourteenth) edition's preface, published by Pearson, gives the authors' view of their audience: future special educators, future general educators who will teach students with disabilities in their classrooms, and related professionals such as speech-language pathologists, therapists, counsellors and school psychologists. It also describes the recurring features of that edition: a "Myths and Facts" box opening each chapter, "Up Close With" and "Peer Connections" profiles of people with disabilities, "Success Stories" about special educators at work, and learning outcomes tied to section headings with a summary at the end. In that edition, the category chapters were organised around a common set of questions: terminology and definition, prevalence, causes, identification and assessment, characteristics, educational considerations, and early intervention and transition to adulthood.

Chapters 1–2: Exceptionality and Special Education; Current Practices for Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Learners

The foundations. Chapter 1 defines exceptionality and special education. In the previous edition it gave more weight to students' abilities than to their disabilities. Chapter 2 deals with how the needs of exceptional learners are met in practice; the previous edition placed special education there in the context of the Common Core standards.

Chapter 3: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Special Education

A retitled chapter. In the fourteenth edition its place was held by "Multicultural and Bilingual Aspects of Special Education". The new title matches the new coverage of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion that Pearson describes.

Chapter 4: Parents and Families

The families of children with disabilities. The previous edition stressed family resilience.

Chapters 5–9: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Learning Disabilities; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Emotional or Behavioral Disorders; Autism Spectrum Disorders

The high-incidence and developmental categories. The previous edition updated the definitions of learning disorder, ADHD, emotional and behavioural disorders and autism spectrum disorder to follow DSM-5. It emphasised systematic instruction for students with intellectual disabilities, literacy instruction and identification for learning disabilities, and executive functioning and behavioural inhibition in ADHD.

Chapters 10–12: Communication Disorders; Learners Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing; Blindness or Low Vision

Disorders of speech and language, and the sensory disabilities. The previous edition treated sign language as a full natural language.

Chapters 13–14: Low-Incidence, Multiple, and Severe Disabilities; Physical Disabilities and Other Health Impairments

The less common and more complex disabilities, including (in the previous edition) traumatic brain injury, and physical and health conditions.

Chapter 15: Learners with Special Gifts and Talents

Giftedness, the other side of "exceptional". The previous edition discussed the difficulty of defining giftedness in a multicultural society.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–4

• Exceptional learners: students with disabilities and students with gifts and talents, taken together.
• Special education: individually planned instruction and services for exceptional learners.
• Response to intervention and multitiered systems of support: tiered prevention and identification, which this edition covers in more depth.
• Justice, equity, diversity and inclusion: the fairness of identification and services across groups of learners.
• Family partnership: parents and families as part of a child's education.

Chapters 5–15

• Categories of exceptionality: the classification by which the book is organised, from intellectual disability to giftedness.
• High-incidence and low-incidence disabilities: common categories such as learning disabilities, and rarer, more severe or multiple disabilities.
• Evidence-based practice: instruction supported by research, the emphasis Pearson highlights for this edition.
• Transition: support for the move from school to adult life.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Depth on each category. One chapter per category gives each disability, and giftedness, sustained treatment of definition, causes, identification and teaching. A teacher can turn to the chapter for a particular student.
• Evidence-based and current. Pearson stresses evidence-based content and more than 400 new references in this edition. The authors are senior researchers in special education.
• For general and special educators alike. The preface addresses both groups and related professionals, so the book suits a mixed introductory class.
• Learning supports. In the previous edition, myths-and-facts openers, learning outcomes and summaries made the chapters easy to study, and profiles of people with disabilities and of special educators kept the human side in view.

Limitations

• Categorical organisation. Arranging the book by disability category is useful for reference but can make inclusion and cross-categorical teaching seem secondary. Readers wanting a classroom-practice view should pair it with a cross-categorical text.
• American legal and diagnostic framework. Federal mandates, DSM-5 definitions and US practices such as RTI frame the content. Readers elsewhere must translate them to their own systems.
• Length and digital dependence. At about 480 pages with fifteen chapters, it is more than one course can cover in depth. Many of its videos and self-check quizzes belong to the digital edition and MyLab.
• Edition differences. The features and chapter emphases described for the fourteenth edition may have changed in the fifteenth, which retitled Chapter 3 and expanded RTI coverage. Anyone assigning particular sections should check the current edition.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the category-by-category introduction in the special and inclusive education course. Turnbull and colleagues' Exceptional Lives is the other introductory textbook. It also treats categories of disability, but builds each chapter around real students and families and stresses dignity, inclusion and self-determination. A course will normally choose one of the two; Hallahan, Kauffman and Pullen suits readers who want depth on characteristics, causes and identification. Friend and Bursuck's Including Students with Special Needs is organised around what a general education teacher does, with disabilities grouped broadly rather than by category, and makes a practical companion.

Mitchell and Sutherland's What Really Works in Inclusive Education synthesises research on particular teaching strategies, and is useful for checking the evidence behind the practices in the category chapters. Brahm Norwich's Addressing Tensions and Dilemmas in Inclusive Education is a scholarly analysis of dilemmas such as labelling versus not identifying difficulties. It is a good counterweight to a categorical textbook, best read after it.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduate and postgraduate students in teacher education, both general and special, and students in related professions. An introduction to educational psychology or child development helps, but is not required.

• Core: Chapters 1–4, in order. They provide the vocabulary, practices, equity questions and family perspective used throughout.
• Categories: read Chapters 6–8 (learning disabilities, ADHD, emotional or behavioural disorders) closely, since these are the categories general educators meet most often. Then read selectively according to the age and setting you will teach, and keep the rest for reference.
• Giftedness: do not skip Chapter 15; it completes the book's definition of exceptional learners.

For each category chapter, make a one-page summary under the same headings: definition, prevalence, causes, identification, characteristics, and educational approaches. Comparing the summaries shows where categories overlap. Read the material on RTI and identification against the rules of your own education system, and use a cross-categorical or research-synthesis book from the course to see how the practices work in an inclusive classroom.