Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, 13th edition

Published by Pearson (September 30, 2026) © 2027
  • William L. Heward
  • Sheila R. Alber-Morgan
  • Moira Konrad

Title overview

For pre-service teacher candidates learning to work with students and individuals with exceptionalities.

An informative, responsible introduction

Exceptional Children explores the ongoing story of contemporary special education, examining the practices, trends, and research that define this ever-evolving field. It focuses on 15 experienced teachers for first-person insights, with step-by-step details that show how these educators use effective, research-based practices to promote student achievement in classrooms.

The 13th Edition is extensively revised with a wealth of new topics, research, and strategies. It adds a new Teaching with Technology feature, updates its Featured Teachers with 11 excellent new professionals to inspire future special educators, and adds many more enhancements.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Featured Teacher Essays begin each chapter with a first-person account by master teachers, drawn from districts across the country.
  • Advice from the Featured Teacher sections conclude each chapter with practical, quick tips to help future teachers avoid common classroom pitfalls and enhance their students’ learning.
  • Teaching & Learning boxes present research-supported, classroom-tested strategies, with practical guidelines to designing instruction for exceptional students.
  • Content Extensions: The special educators featured in this text provide examples of actual materials used in their classrooms.
  • Current research, law, and practice are incorporated into every chapter.

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: The TEACH mnemonic helps readers remember 5 “big ideas” in special education: teamwork, effective instruction, adult success, characteristics of learners, and historical and contemporary contexts.
    • The 5 ideas are addressed in each chapter, and each chapter ends with questions related to these ideas to help readers make connections. Throughout, specially marked margin notes remind readers to consider these big ideas.
  • NEW: Teaching with Technology feature added to every chapter addresses that special educators must be equipped with both low-tech and high-tech tools to enhance their instruction.
    • NEW: Discussion of AI in teaching includes discussion of using it to provide accommodations in reading.
  • UPDATED: Featured Teachers adds 11 excellent new teachers who will inspire future special educators.
  • NEW/UPDATED: Revised topic coverage includes evaluating educational apps; addition of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); expanded discussion of neurodiversity, strengths-based instruction, theory of mind, and use of biomarkers for identification; and many more.

Key features

Features of Pearson+ eTextbook for the 13th Edition

  • Videos filmed expressly for this revision highlight special education teachers and their colleagues providing evidence-based instruction and related services to students with disabilities in various settings.
  • LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank: All quizzes, application exercises, and chapter tests are included in LMS-compatible banks for Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, and Moodle. These packaged files give instructors maximum flexibility for importing, assigning, and grading. Assessment types include:
    • Learning Outcome Quizzes: Higher-order, multiple-choice questions in each quiz also provide correct answers and distractors, and explain why each response is correct or incorrect.
    • Application Exercises are usually in short-answer format. They are often based on Pearson Textbook Video Examples that depict student activity and responses, and include student work and student assessment samples.
    • Chapter Tests: Suggested test items are provided for each chapter and include questions in multiple choice and short answer/essay format.

Table of contents

I. FOUNDATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING SPECIAL EDUCATION

  • 1: The Purpose and Promise of Special Education
  • 2: Planning and Providing Special Education Services
  • 3: Collaborating with Families

II. EDUCATING EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS

  • 4: Intellectual Disabilities
  • 5: Learning Disabilities
  • 6: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
  • 7: Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • 8: Communication Disorders
  • 9: Deafness and Hearing Loss
  • 10: Blindness and Low Vision
  • 11: Health Impairments and Physical Disabilities
  • 12: Low-Incidence Disabilities: Multiple Disabilities, Deaf-Blindness, and Traumatic Brain Injury
  • 13: Gifted and Talented

III. SPECIAL EDUCATION ACROSS THE LIFESPAN

  • 14: Early Childhood Special Education
  • 15: Transition to Adulthood

Author bios

About our authors

William L. Heward, Ed.D., BCBA-D is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Heward has taught at universities in Brazil, Japan, Portugal, and Singapore and given lectures and workshops in 25 other countries. His publications include coauthoring the books Applied Behavior Analysis and Let’s Make a Contract: A Positive Way to Change Your Child’s Behavior, each of which has been translated into numerous languages. Bill has also written for the popular market. Some Are Called Clowns chronicled his 5 summers as a pitcher for the Indianapolis Clowns, the last of the barnstorming baseball teams.

Sheila R. Alber-Morgan, Ph.D., BCBA-D is Professor of Special Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Alber-Morgan taught for 7 years in inclusive K–8 classrooms in urban and rural South Carolina and for more than 25 years in higher education. She has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed research and practitioner articles, book chapters, textbook ancillaries, and the book Using RTI to Teach Literacy to Diverse Learners, K–8: Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom (Corwin Press, 2010). Sheila’s research, most of which has been designed and implemented in collaboration with classroom teachers, has focused on behavioral interventions and strategies for promoting the generalization and maintenance of academic, functional, and social skills.

Moira Konrad, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Special Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Konrad has 9 years of public school experience teaching students with a range of disabilities and has been involved in teacher preparation for more than 25 years. Moira’s publications include more than 75 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on instructional efficiency, instructional design, self-determination, and written expression. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Intervention in School and Clinic.

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