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AbstractBackgroundThis longitudinal study examines the extent to which a school classroom (inclusive vs. special education) is meaningful for theory of mind (ToM) development among children with mild intellectual disability.Materials and MethodsThe participant group consisted of 166 primary school‐aged children (M = 8.1,SD = 0.99), 79 of whom attended inclusive classrooms; the remaining 87 were in special education classrooms.ResultsAlthough all children developed ToM over time, children's learning of ToM in inclusive classrooms was significantly greater than that seen in special classrooms. The difference remained significant after controlling for age. The present authors have compared children's individual and family characteristics, but there were almost no differences between groups.ConclusionsThe present authors discuss the results in the light of their importance for children's cognitive and social development. The implications for children's education are also considered.

AbstractOver the course of the last 30 years, inclusive education has emerged as a key aim of education policies around the world. Also in Europe, most countries took efforts to make their education systems more inclusive—which led to growing numbers of children and young persons with disabilities in general education in Europe. The implementation processes of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) fuelled these efforts. However, as some authors have argued, not all students with disabilities seem to have benefited in the same way from these developments—such as children and young persons with intellectual disability (ID). This paper aims to explore this phenomenon in more depth by comparing some measures in relation to the implementation processes of the UNCRPD of seven European countries. Doing so, we analyze trends in placements (mainstream and special schools) of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in general and of students with intellectual disability specifically. As we show, an increase of students identified as having SEN in mainstream schools can be observed in all countries during the implementation process of the UNCRPD. However, in comparison to this rather broad group of learners, the percentage of students with intellectual disability in mainstream settings did not increase as much. Furthermore, the calculation of the "exclusion rate" revealed that this group of learners remains a key population of special schools. These results need to be understood as effects of specific shortcomings in the implementation of the UNCRPD, as we discuss in a further section. We conclude our paper with recommendations on future research and policies on inclusive education regarding students with intellectual disability.

What key issues and challenges affect the lives of people with severe disabilities todayâ€"and what should tomorrow's professionals do to address them? Aligned with the core values and agenda of TASH, this visionary text prepares professionals to strengthen supports and services for people with disabilities across the lifespan. Readers will fully examine more than a dozen critical topics in the lives of people with severe disabilities; explore necessary reforms to policy and practice; and set clear goals and priorities for improving early intervention, education, health care, behavior suppor