This is the first in a week-long series of columns written to coincide with National Newspaper Week. The columns highlight examples of high-impact reporting by our journalists and take you behind the scenes with reporters in a Q&A format.

Two of our Education Lab reporters, Anna B. Mitchell and Valerie Nava, collaborated on a special project last fall that focused on issues surrounding the needs of children with autism in schools.

We published in two parts. One story took an in-depth look at funding and staffing issues in South Carolina classrooms and sought to help readers gain a fuller understanding of autism, the challenges for teachers, aides, administrators and parents – and students’ special needs. The second story examined the use of restraints for kids in distress.

The work drew

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