The reader is encouraged to apply these conceptual frameworks though analysis of the numerous vignettes and extended case studies throughout the text, stories drawn from the experiences of real children and teachers. The separate categorical approaches around which other texts are organized tend to reinforce the notion of discrete disabilities, which current experience and philosophical discussions in the field of special education increasingly do not support and which do not prepare new special educators for the complex nature of services for students with mild disabilities. Learners with Mild Disabilities focuses on four high-prevalence disabilities; mild mental retardation, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, and ADHD, as well as briefer consideration of other mild conditions such as Asperger Syndrome. This text looks first at disability from conventional categorical perspectives, and then focuses on the perspective of alternative, non-categorical frameworks. Designed as a primary text for use in undergraduate and graduate courses addressing the characteristics of learners with high prevalence or milder levels of disability and is useful as a text for the first specialized course in a special education program.

Eileen Raymond is currently serving as the associated dean in the School of Education and Professional Studies at The State University of New York at Potsdam and holds the rank of professor.