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Schooling transitions are often challenging experiences for students with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder (ID/ASD), their families, and their teachers. Transition processes, particularly planning, can facilitate successful transitions from primary to secondary schools, and to postschool settings. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model served as a theoretical framework to examine parents' and teachers' experiences with transitions for students with ID/ASD attending special schools. The authors interviewed 14 carers and 13 teachers of students with ID/ASD attending special government schools in New South Wales. The interviews were analysed using content analysis. The fndings of this small-scale Australian study indicate that although transition practices varied widely by school, both parents and teachers perceived that more can be done to support students with ID/ASD during these times. School-home collaboration and access to information about postschool settings were areas that were emphasised by both groups. Furthermore, the lack of student involvement in transition meetings was of great concern, given that student-focused planning is a well-established evidence-based transition practice. The processes that are implemented to support students with ID/ASD require closer scrutiny, as results revealed inconsistencies in transition planning across schools, and both parents and teachers suggested ways to strengthen transition processes.

This paper discusses the role of mobile technology in supporting people with dyslexia within the theoretical framework of Universal Design for Learning. The authors discuss how students with dyslexia can use mobile technology to address a diverse range of academic needs (such as reading, composing text, notetaking, metacognition and studying skills). Curriculum issues and teacher training are also examined. (Contains 1 table.)

Inclusive education does not have a strong history in the Czech Republic. Initial efforts to educate students with different types of disabilities within the mainstream education system in the Czech Republic date back to the mid-20th century. These efforts were primarily from parent initiatives, which in some cases resulted in ensuring that the education of every child in mainstream schools took place (Vitkova, 2003). The 1990s were marked by a few important tendencies within the educational system, such as the strengthening of economical and educational autonomy of schools, the diversification of schools' educational programs, the increase of a competitive environment within education, efforts to make schools more attractive, and heightened integration efforts to include students or groups of students into mainstream schools. However, despite these efforts, between the school years 1989-1990 and 1995-1996 there were approximately 3.3% students placed in special schools based on the recommendation from professionals and special education assessment. It is only since 2000 that glimpses of inclusive education policy have appeared in official Czech educational documents. More recently, in March 2010, the Czech government adopted the National Action Plan for Inclusive Education. The current state of the Czech educational system is demonstrated by the withdrawal of efforts to support students' diversity within mainstream schools and the decrease of appreciation for schools' efforts to support inclusion. However, there are many enthusiastic education professionals and parents who are fighting to make the Czech educational system more inclusive. The education community is also aware of the changes needed within the area of pre-service teacher training to prepare mainstream teachers for the needs of all their students. The changes taking place in this area within Czech universities are on a local level, and there are new courses in inclusive education being adopted within the accreditation process. The model described in this article focuses on the course "The Foundations of Inclusive Education" to prepare pre-service teachers for teaching heterogeneous groups in mainstream schools. One of the key assumptions in bringing inclusive education into reality for mainstream schools is to improve pre-service teacher preparation. The authors believe that the central point of students' pre-service preparation is the possibility to get to know the schools' functioning areas based on their culture and everyday practice. These changes are feasible at schools given their formal setting and formal culture, practical conditions, and informal internal life.

The reported level of use of eight instructional strategies in a sample of 531 special educators in the Czech Republic was examined in this study. Consistent with recent parallel studies in North America and Australia, the respondents reported that they used a combination of evidence-based instructional practices (such as direct instruction and applied behaviour analysis) and other practices that may be considered unproven or disproved (such as perceptual motor training and modality instruction). The details of the pattern of use of strategies differed from previous parallel studies including relatively high levels of use of perceptual motor programmes, possibly reflecting local historical factors. Overall, the results support the conclusion that commitment to evidence-based instruction has only partially permeated special education practice and provide a baseline for monitoring future change. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

Background: Quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities has been reported in the research literature across differing demographics. There has been, however, little research that has examined in-depth the experiences of women with intellectual disabilities aged 40 years or older. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women from Sydney, Australia, and Prague, Czech Republic, were recruited to the study. Participants were recruited through agencies known to the researchers, ensuring ethical conduct of all procedures. Results: Each participant completed a semi-structured interview, and using a grounded theory approach, a series of themes were identified common across all women. The strongest theme identified throughout the interviews was the lack of control participants perceived they had over their lives. Conclusions: The results of this study further the call for people with intellectual disabilities to be provided the opportunity to participate in decisions about their life choices.

Dempsey has provided a commentary on our study (Carter, Stephenson, & Strnadova, 2011) examining the reported rates of use of instructional practices by Australian special educators. Examining this commentary, it is evident that on many issues we are on the same page and agree on many of the fundamental conclusions to be drawn from the study. Nevertheless, Dempsey did express concern regarding several aspects of the reporting of the study, which were suggested to have the "potential to mislead" readers. In essence, these criticisms revolve around four substantive points and these will each be addressed.

This research examined the reported level of implementation of eight practices in a national sample of Australian special education teachers, replicating the North American study of Burns and Ysseldyke (2009). The 194 respondents reported extensive use of a number of evidence-based practices, such as direct instruction and applied behaviour analysis. Conversely, a number of practices that have very weak empirical foundations or can be considered disproven, such as perceptual-motor training and modality instruction, continue to be used at moderate-to-high levels. In addition, compared to their North American counterparts, Australian special education teachers used a number of evidence-based practices significantly less frequently and used perceptual-motor programs more frequently. Implications of these results are discussed.

The role of the family in providing a quality education program is important for all students. For students with special educational needs, however, the role of the family is particularly critical. In such families, there can be an increased amount of stress and, at the same time, a range of coping strategies evolving. Research into the ways that families cope with stress uses various life quality indicators (e.g., emotional, physical and material well-being, interpersonal relations, personal development, self-determination or social inclusion) to evaluate the effectiveness of these coping mechanisms. The role of the family (with specific focus on its links with schools) is often overlooked, yet is crucial to attaining long-term benefits for the student.