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"Reduction of letters and art for teaching mute people to speak" by Juan Pablo Bonet is published in 1620
Catholic Encyclopedia: Juan Pablo Bonet<a href='http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02655a.htm' ></a> Juan Pablo Bonet developed the use of manual signs to help people with disabilities communicate and learn.
I chose this event due to the significance of it as it applies to the development of sign language today. -
National Institute for the Deaf is established in Paris, France
National Institute for the Deaf This was, I felt a significant event in that it was the creation of an educational facility for those that previously had been marginalized or entirely ignored by western culture. It was more than 30 years before funding was provided by the French Government (1791). -
Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard and "Victor"
Human Intelligence: Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard I chose this event due to the attempt by Itard in teaching a feral child using techniques developed from deaf education. While "Victor" did not achieve levels that Itard had hoped for, Itard was successful in that he had tried to help out the boy and found that people with disabilities could be helped by those that are willing. His work was influential on Maria Montessori. -
Edouard Seguin school founded in Paris, France
Minnesota Council on Developmental Disability Chosen because of its influence on Montessori.
Edouard Seguin founds a school in Paris that focuses on sensory and motor development. The school opens with 30 students and is run by Seguin who wrote one of the first books that dealt with what we would now term "special education". This book is titled "The Moral Treatment, Hygiene, and Education of Idiots and Other Backward Children". -
President Truman orders the de-segregation of the Armed Forces
Truman Library: Desegregation of the Armed Forces In July 1948, President Harry Truman, in one of the first landmark rights acts of the 20th Century ordered the desegration of the United States Armed Forces. While this did not directly impact the education of children in the United States, it was one of the first paradigm shifts in bringing equality to all Americans. -
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas
National Park Service: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas The Kansas case, one of five court challenges to the policy of segregated schools, became the benchmark for Civil Rights decisions within the United States. Declaring that separate is inherently unequal, the United States Supreme Court unanimously struck down the separation of children based off of ethncity/race. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1965
Elementary and Secondary Education ActDepartment of Education Archives Chosen because it provided funding for children with special needs as part of President Johnson's "War on Poverty" which has now grown to more than $11 BILLION annually.
This act authorized the first state level funding for children with special needs. -
Pennslyvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennslyvania
The Future of Children: Princeton University Journal Chosen because of the importance of the Supreme Court deeming education a constitutional right. A United States Supreme Court decision that extended public education to children with special needs as a constitutional right. -
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
The Future of Children: A Princeton University Journal Chosen again because of Supreme Court decisino that budgets do not outweight student needs. A court case that set the precendent that student needs outweigh school financial considerations when providing education to special needs students which would violate the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. -
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
United States Department of Labor: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 503 Chosen because it prohibits employers from denying, terminating or discriminating against employees with disabilities but are otherwise qualified. Offered the first civil rights protection to those with special needs. These rights included right to an education. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
Public Law 94-142 - Education of All Handicapped Children Act Selected for the "Top Ten" due to the Federal Mandate that any state receiving federal monies must provide a "free appropriate public education" to those students with special needs in compliance with US Federal Law. -
Development of Instructional Support Teams
Pennsylvania Special Education Regulations and Standards In 1990, Pennsylvania Special Education Regulations and Standards required that all elementary schools develop instructional support teams. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Chosen because of the impact it had on schools and other public buildings in use and physical layout.
Outlawed the discrimination against peoples with disabilities and affords the same rights and protections to people as previous Federal Laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ADA of 1990 defines a disability as being either a physical or mental impairment that which impacts a person's quality of life.
