Texts: Raymond (2016) suggests that special education "...disability definitions create arbitrary cutoff points" (p. 40) that ultimately "...designate some learners as deviant and in need of special services whereas others" (p. 40) "...are found to be ineligible" (p. 40). Raymond (2016) also cites former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education, Madeline Will, who claimed that special education provides "...restricted special assistance to only those students who demonstrated serious levels of disability, saying that such a system focused only on failure. She noted that the very language used within special education is a 'language of separation, of fragmentation, of removal" (p. 40). Do you agree or disagree with this belief and in what ways could special education services become more accessible for students who need assistance but might not otherwise qualify for services under the IDEA? Watch the VoiceThread for more background on Special Education Assessment.