made this special issue possible, and I thank them. This issue represents the first special issue of a journal dedicated to SRSD research-a true landmark for this work.I began my work on the development of what became SRSD instruction in the late 1970s, based on the characteristics, strengths, and needs of students with LD when learning complex content and abilities. Here, I first provide a history of how SRSD came about and how it initially became focused on writing-something I have never had the chance to do in an article. McKeown et al. (this issue) provide an excellent overview of the initial foundations of what became SRSD, the flexible and recursive stages of instruction, and several of the characteristics of this instructional model; thus, I do not address these aspects here (detailed breakdowns and descriptions of each stage of SRSD instruction and its foundations are available: cf. Harris & Graham, 2009, 2018Harris et al., 2008). Next, I share my thoughts on the importance and the unique contributions of each article in this special issue. Finally, I conclude with some reflections on the future of SRSD instructional research.
THE LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF SRSDI begin with my undergraduate degrees-a significant part of my "life space" that led me toward developing what is now known as SRSD. Life space, somewhat simplified, is the combination of all the factors that develop, interact with, and influence a person's behavior at any time and over time. These factors come from an individual's environment, culture, family, community, educational experiences, and more; they interact with one's perspectives, needs, beliefs, values, abilities, personality, goals, motivation, and so on (Lewin, 1948(Lewin, ,1951(Lewin, /1997. I completed two undergraduate degrees from the University of Northern Colorado in 1974. This was before PL 94-142, the law that guaranteed all children a free