CI5523

A belonging-first framework for special education students who have been misunderstood before they have been supported By Ryan Mercer I did not plan to become a teacher. My wife has been an educator for almost 20 years, and when we moved into teacher housing at a Navajo reservation school, I thought I was moving into her world. Then the school needed substitutes. I started subbing. Then I long-term subbed. Then I stayed for a school year. Somewhere in that year, the job stopped feeling like something I was helping with and started feeling like a responsibility I was being pulled toward. At the same time, graduate school put language to something I had carried for years. I did not learn that I had dyscalculia until starting my master's degree in Special Education. That matters because before I knew the term, I knew the feeling. I knew the embarrassment of being capable in one room and suddenly lost in another when numbers, time, directions, steps, or calculations showed up. I kn...

Ethical special education practice begins with a simple question: Does this decision protect the student’s dignity, access, and progress? When a student struggles, the IEP team should not rush to a more restrictive placement. IDEA requires individualized services and placement in the least restrictive environment whenever appropriate (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). A stronger first step is to review the IEP, strengthen specially designed instruction, and use progress data to adjust supports. Evidence-based special education depends on research, teacher judgment, and data-based decision making (Fink Chorzempa et al., 2019; Wilcox et al., 2021). Families should be included early because they bring knowledge that school data may miss. Universal Design for Learning can also reduce barriers before access is removed (Al-Azawei et al., 2016). Ethical practice is not just compliance; it is careful, student-centered problem solving (Council for Exceptional Children, n.d.). ...