By: Stanley H. Zucker, Cindy Perras, Darlene E. Perner, and J. David Smith
Abstract: On October 8-10 2008, the Council for Exceptional Children Division on Developmental Disabilities (DDD) sponsored its “Practitioner-Focused” Eleventh International Conference: Best Practices in Cognitive Disabilities/Mental Retardation, Autism, and Related Disabilities. The conference was held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. The DDD Board of Directors decided to devote this issue of Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities to conference papers. The conference brought together educators from school and college classrooms from all over the world. The conference included pre-conference training institutes and strands on assistive technology, autism/autism spectrum disorder, cognitive disability-evidence based practices, mild mental retardation, transition, multiple disabilities, and paraprofessionals. The conference provided many parents, teacher educators, researchers, teachers, and other practitioners an opportunity to gather to learn the most current information related to providing services for individuals with mental retardation, autism, and other developmental disabilities.