About Us

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.

New York CEC board members with our CEC component services manager at the 2023 Leadership Institute.  Left to Right: Naima Bhana (President), Maria Haji-Georgi (Communications Coordinator), Maria Paula Mello (President-Elect), Danielle Wieczorek (CEC component services manager)

NYS CEC History

The International Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the leading professional organization that works on behalf of children with exceptionalities. The organization can trace its roots back to New York State (NYS), which has played a pivotal role in the advocacy and education of children with exceptionalities for over 90 years.

On August 10, 1922, a small group of students who attended Teachers College at Columbia University in NY and their college professor, Elizabeth Farrell, founded the International Council for the Education of Exceptional Children (now known as CEC). At the time, CEC had 12 members, and now, it has members all across the world who are interested in the education of children with exceptionalities.

Thirty years after the formation of CEC, the New York State Federation of Chapters of the Council for Exceptional Children (NYSCEC) was officially founded. We are the largest state chapter in the larger international community of CEC.

Since our inception, our mission has been to improve the educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, and we continue to be driven by this mission today.