The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) empowers special education teachers, advocates, and professionals with practical training, trusted resources, and meaningful connections - supporting those who make a difference in the lives of students with diverse learning needs.
Happy Friday - congrats on a productive week! Here's the news you may have missed this week
New federal guidance on disability is raising questions about what it could mean for how schools serve students under IDEA and Section 504, and it arrived the same week a major reporting project followed families who have pulled their children with disabilities out of school to teach them at home. Add one of the country’s largest states opting into the national school choice program, and the ground under public special education kept shifting this week.
The states carried the practical news, not all of it good. A deep look at the nation’s largest district found special education costs too big to ignore, one state proposed eliminating a children’s autism program, and another rolled out new grants to target rising special education costs while parents marched for better services. On the brighter side, a new free university program will train special education teachers for the rural districts where the shortage bites hardest.
The research pile was led by something rare: the definition of dyslexia got its first update in more than 20 years, worth reading before it starts shaping evaluations and IEP conversations. ADHD had a big week too, with a major study linking it to higher risk of cognitive decline later in life, new thinking reshaping how the condition is understood, and attention to the piece the diagnosis leaves out: rejection sensitivity. Round it out with a student’s podcast about finally getting the right reading diagnosis and a promising treatment for blindness.
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Hello from the NASET Break Room - our quick pulse check on the state of special education based on trending posts and questions we saw online this week.
Last Week:
Have you ever been told a student must complete MTSS before being referred for a special education evaluation?
Yes, regularly - and I've pushed back on it 💪 (26%)
Yes, and I wasn't sure if it was legal 😬 (27%)
No, our district refers when there's a suspicion ✅ (27%)
Do you ever wonder if social skills training is teaching students to mask rather than genuinely connect?
Sometimes, but I think it still helps 🤔 (47%)
Have you ever identified a student as needing more support only after realizing they had been masking their needs for months?
I suspect it's happened but I can't be sure 🤔 (41%)
Have you ever had to advocate for a student’s AAC device against resistance from a colleague or administrator?
Yes, it’s an ongoing battle 😤
Yes, once - and it was exhausting 😔
Not directly, but I’ve seen it happen 👀
No, our team supports AAC use consistently ✅
Have you ever had a student refuse both pull-out and push-in services?
Yes, and I had no clear protocol to follow 😬
Yes, but we found a workaround that worked 💪
It’s come up but the student eventually accepted support 🤔
No, I haven’t encountered this 🤷♀️
Do you think your school over- or under-identifies students of color for special education services?
Over-identifies in some categories, under-identifies in others 📊
Definitely under-identifies - I’ve seen it firsthand 😔
Our identification process seems equitable to me 🤝
I honestly don’t have enough data to say 🤷♀️
INTRODUCING THE NASET FAMILY NAVIGATOR
🥳 We just launched the NASET Family Navigator, a new free tool that walks parents through what comes next after a diagnosis or IEP eligibility: what it means, resources, specialists, and advocates in their state.
🎁 BONUS for BCASE holders: The Advocates tab pulls live from the NASET Advocate Directory. When a family opens it, the Board Certified Advocates in their state are right there.
🛠️ This is a brand new release and we're updating it all the time. Take it for a spin and reply to this email with any feedback. We want to hear what you'd add or change!
Support Special Education Research
Your Classroom Affects Your Health, Too
Special educators manage lighting, noise, and space for their students. But who's studying how those environments affect you?
Schools are among the most female-dominated workplaces in America, yet occupational health research has largely overlooked them. The Educator Health Survey, a national study of K–12 educators by AREA Research and Perkins&Will focused on women's health, asks about lighting, air quality, temperature, acoustics, restroom access, break space, and health across your career.
It takes 15–20 minutes, and any question can be skipped. The first 350 participants receive $20. No names or emails are collected. Findings publish Fall 2027. 👩🏫 Take the survey | [email protected]
Do you work with people with disabilities and their families? Help shape the resources and training Texas professionals need. Take this 10-minute research survey from the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing — your answers will help programs better support professionals like you across the state. Learn more and take the survey: raisingtexasvoices.org
🏫 High School Educators, we want to hear from you - Sign up here
👩💻 October Sessions to keep you informed | Always Free for NASET Members
🧘 Join us THIS WEDNESDAY October 21st at 7pm ET for Regulate, Relate, Reason: Dr. Bruce Perry's Neurosequential Model for Educators. We're excited to host Dr. Katie Lohmiller, DrPH, and Halley Gruber, M.A.Ed., Program Directors of the Neurosequential Model in Education at The Neurosequential Network, founded by Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Lohmiller holds a Doctor of Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health, and Halley Gruber is a licensed elementary generalist and special educator; both are trainers in the Neurosequential Model in Education and co-founders of Educational Access Group. You'll leave understanding how stress and trauma shape the developing brain and why regulation has to come before learning. Recording and certificates available 24 hours after the webinar.
👩💻 Register Today
🧩 Launching Wednesday, October 28th at 6:30pm ET: Autism and ABA: Translated for Those Who Make a Difference, a new 5-part webinar series led by Dr. Beth L. Raiola, EdD, BCBA, LBA, Program Chair for Applied Behavior Analysis at Post University. Across five live 90-minute sessions covering autism in the classroom, family dynamics, and coaching early-career teachers, Dr. Raiola takes on the questions people actually have about ABA, especially the challenging ones; every perspective is welcome. Recording, BCBA CEUs and RBT PDUs are included with every session.
👩💻 Register Today
🗽 NYC Educators: Our ASPDP course, Transition Planning and Post-Secondary Success, is LIVE and runs October 5, 2026 through January 8, 2027. Eligible to earn 3 A+ credits (45 CTLE hours). 🎓 Enroll Today
📚From the NASET Vault
👉 Read The October Special Education e-Journal
⬇️ NASET Support Squad Downloads of the Week Understanding the Role of the Paraprofessional in Special Education and Diagnosing Why an Intervention Isn’t Working Scroll down to instantly download ⬇️
FEDERAL & STATE
WORKFORCE
What teacher shortages really say about the profession (features a former NASET webinar guest, Dr. Nguyen)
RESEARCH
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Shout Out to Last Week’s Winners Who Correctly Answered, “Vineland-3 (or ABAS-3 / DABS).”
This Week's Question:
Which psychiatrist first described autism in a 1943 paper on eleven children?
Correctly answer 3 or more trivia questions each month to be eligible for a gift card! We had 26 winners in September!
What’s one resource you REALLY need, but can’t find? Reply to let us know!
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Discover Drexel’s online Applied Behavior Analysis programs – master’s and certificates. Tailored for busy professionals, including educators and social workers – these programs empower you to help others succeed, while forging new career trails of your own, using well-established, evidence-based ABA principles, practices, and tools.
“Play is the work of the child.”