A Refusal to Normalize Homogeneity, Inequity, and Exclusion in Special Education

When we began the editorship of Exceptional Children (EC) less than 2 years ago, we expressed our intention to continue strengthening the range and relevance of scholarship published in our field of special education. Since then, we have published a range of rigorous scholarship that realizes the four goals we brought into our editorship: (re)situate special education as a civil rights issue, account for disability as part of students’ intersectional identities, expand theoretical and methodological diversity, and cultivate inclusiveness and diversity in the publication process. Our editorial goals cut across research methodologies, geographic location, professional and political affiliations, and disability-related fields, representing our commitment to a just and equitable world that ensures fair and inclusive educational opportunities and outcomes for learners with disabilities, supported by research on practices and policies that foster this reality. However, over the last 3 months, many of the grounding assertions and foundational rights embedded in the field of special education and the mission of the Council for Exceptional Children have been the target of attacks. These attacks have targeted the belief systems and practical dimensions of policy and practice related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access that have and will negatively—even gravely—impact people with disabilities.