Historically, the department has maintained close affiliations and working relationships with the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and the Departments of Human Development and Family Life, Speech, Language, and Hearing, Pediatrics, and Occupational and Physical Therapy.
Training is the department's primary mission.
Approximately 400 students are enrolled in programs leading toward graduate level degrees and teacher certification in special education. In addition, there is an undergraduate minor in special education as one option in the School of Education's Extended Teacher Education Program. Upon completion of the fifth year, students with a special education minor receive full certification in regular education and provisional endorsement in their selected area of special education. Most courses in a program area are offered on the campus where faculty in a particular program area are located. A number of required courses are also taught at the Regents Center, situated in Overland Park, Kansas.