This creates a problem in education, as there is already a disproportionate demand for Special Education teachers, while there are not enough to meet the demand of the increasing numbers of students needing their services. Specifically, Whitaker also mentions the following factors in contributing to the isolation problem and the lack of teacher retention: 1) a lack of preparation for the realities of the profession; 2) a reluctance in teachers

(Fondacaro, 2001) Reported is a convenience sample of 12 students, 10 boys and 2 girls in the age range from 8-13 which was taken from nine public school and three private elementary schools in south New Jersey. The twelve students in this study were diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome. Data was collected through semi-structured field interviews with special education and regular education teachers. Data was coded by the researcher

Each of these are defined by these authors as follows: General curriculum alignment: "A team might decide that the student can benefit from placement in general education and participate in some or all of the curriculum. Although the child may receive extra help and remediation, he or she would essentially be evaluated with the same instruments and processes as other children in the class." (Price, Mayfield, McFadden and Marsh, 2001) Adapted

special education has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of the special classroom down the hall where special education students were hidden away and kept from the general student population. Gone are the days when special education students were given comic books to read and passed because they were there. Civil rights mandates of the 1960's turned the world of special education inside out and today, four decades later,

It is also worth noting that the evolving nature of special education can be attributed to the cultural changes, family values, and civilizations taking place. Research attitudes towards people with special educational needs exhibit considerable variation as one move from one culture to the other. Findings show that people of different culture may perceive the similar conditions differently. For instance, Yoruba perceived that albinism as a punishment from God (Wilson,

"By the 1980s, the field had moved to a functional skills model. As the evidence for this approach mounted, the field refocused on age appropriate skills and knowledge performed in authentic settings and the functional life skills curriculum became best practice. The functional, age-appropriate curricular focus resulted in these students demonstrating skills and knowledge not thought possible earlier" (Quenemoen, 2008). In the 1990s, added significant new practices were acknowledged as