A book by two Kansas University professors has become the first American special education textbook to be translated into Chinese.

Ann and Rud Turnbull’s “Exceptional Lives,” a leading introductory text to special education in the English-speaking world, now will be used by Chinese students.

The third edition of the book, published in the United States by Merrill/Prentice Hall publishers, was translated by staff at East China Normal University in Shanghai. It will be sold by the university’s press.

“There are 60 million Chinese students with disabilities and they’re on the brink of drafting special education legislation,” Rud Turnbull said.

He and Ann Turnbull were involved with legislation drafted for special education in the United States — legislation that created regulations the Chinese are looking to replicate.

The book, which took about a year to translate, marks a burgeoning cooperation between the countries, as well as the growth of a partnership between KU and East China Normal University.

The Turnbulls and their student, Mian Wang, went to China in July for two weeks when the book was unveiled. They participated in several special education conferences, spending a week in Beijing and a week in Shanghai.

Wang, a Chinese native, was a doctoral student under the Turnbulls’ tutelage at KU. Starting in September, he will be assistant professor of special education at Rowan College in New Jersey.

“The opportunity to have our student (Wang) truly shine with his Chinese counterparts was certainly a highlight of the trip,” Rud Turnbull said. “He brought to the table two major lines of research in the U.S. that we’ve been involved with, so he can take a leadership position in China. They’re hungry to have him over there.”

The Turnbulls are the co-founders of the Beach Center on Disability at KU.