Special Education in Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Exceptionality

2015 Recipient of the Textbook Excellence Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA)

The Sixth Edition of Richard Gargiulo’s well-respected Special Education in Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Exceptionality offers a comprehensive, engaging, and easy-to-read introduction to special education. Grounded in research and updated to reflect the most current thinking and standards of the field, the book provides students with the skills and knowledge to become successful teachers. Richard Gargiulo and new co-author Emily Bouck encourage a deep awareness and understanding of the human side of special education. Their book provides students a rare look into the lives of exceptional students and their families, as well as the teachers that work with exceptional persons throughout their lives. 

The new edition maintains the broad context and research focus for which the book is known, while expanding on current trends and contemporary issues to better serve both pre-service and in-service teachers of exceptional individuals. The text is organized into two distinct parts to offer students a truly comprehensive and humane understanding of exceptionality. In Part I, readers are provided strong foundational perspective on broad topics that affect all individuals with an exceptionality. In Part II, the authors engage students with thorough examinations of individual exceptionalities, and discuss historical, personal, and educational details of each exceptionality as it affects a person across the lifespan.

Richard Gargiulo is a professor of special education in the School of Education at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He received his Master's degree and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1999, he was awarded the University's President's Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has also served as a Fulbright Scholar to the Czech Republic and has authored numerous books on the subjects of special education, early childhood education, and child abuse and neglect. He has been president of the Council for Exceptional Children and president of the Division on Autism and Development Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Emily Bouck is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education at Michigan State University. She received her doctorate in special education from Michigan State University. Dr. Bouck is the author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters relating to her two main areas of research: mathematics education for students with disabilities and functional life-skills education for students with disabilities with a central theme of assistive technology throughout both areas. Dr. Bouck is a Past President of the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children and has also been active in the Technology and Media Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. Dr. Bouck taught courses on assistive technology; social, legal, and ethical issues in special education; special education methods; and doctoral seminars. She has experience working with a range of students with disabilities in school-settings from preschool through age 26.