Love is in This Room: Memories of Teaching Special Kids

Author Laurel Lorraine Lancer, PhD, taught in the public school system for forty-five years, working with special education students of all ages. In Love Is in This Room, Dr. Lancer invites readers into her life and her classroom as she shares intimate stories from her career. She built special relationships with both her students and her colleagues and is a vocal advocate for the merits of this level of personal and professional investment. Many close relationships that she gained in teaching and counseling her students have endured for many years. She describes the changes in education over her years in the public school system, and she decries the "robotic" transformation of teachers by current education methods. She has taught students who were emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, autistic, intellectually disabled, and gifted. She chronicles the development of special education in her district and gives poignant stories about her many individual students. This book relates Dr. Lancer's teaching approach with many memorable students. It is her hope that her love for her students and for teaching shines through her words.