As an introduction to behavioral teratology, this article discusses types of teratogenic agents, behavioral targets, organismic vulnerability during growth spurts, teratogenic “routing,” exposure, and duration of effects. It also describes some chemical neurotoxins, using lead as a paradigm, that are known to affect cognitive and noncognitive behaviors crucial to learning and appropriate conduct in the classroom. Finally, the article points out two ways in which behavioral teratology is particularly important for special education. First, behavioral teratology balances the tendency to attribute educational problems exclusively to social or environmental antecedents. Second, it provides a much needed subject matter for the educational curriculum of the nation's junior and senior high schools.
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