This paper suggests ways in which to look at textbooks in terms of how they socially construct students with disabilities who receive special education services. Although students with developmental disabilities were not included in most of these texts, the treatment of students with mild disabilities revealed varied attitudes towards disability. Competence-oriented interpretations of atypical classroom behaviours can promote or reveal student engagement, while deficit-orientated interpretations can obscure student competence and engagement. The possible impact of misrepresentations of students with disabilities on pre-service teachers' attitudes and practice suggests ways to revise textbooks to be competence-oriented and inclusive. It is recommended that pre-service teachers learn to evaluate management suggestions and approaches in terms of their impact on all their students. (Contains 2 tables.)