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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet opened the American Asylum for Education of the Deaf and Dumb, later renamed the American School for the Deaf.
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Dr. John Fisher is inspired by his visit to the world's first school for the blind in Paris. With his vision, he works towards the founding of the New England Asylum for the Blind. Samuel Gridley Howe is the first director of the school, later renamed the Perkins School for the Blind.
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Louis Braille perfects an adaptation of Barbier's "Escriture Nocturne" (originally developed for the French military), known as Braille.
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The American Annals of the Deaf are a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly with one annual special.
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The Perkins Institution, the first residential institution for people with mental retardation, opens in Boston.
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A patent is filed for the basic design of the manual wheelchair in use to this day.
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Thomas Edison invents the phonograph.
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Frank Haven Hall invents the Braille typewriter.
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The Soldier Rehabilitation Act (also known as the Smith-Sears Veterans Rehabilitation Act) was intended to assist veterans with disabilities resume life.
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The Smith-Fess Citizens Vocational Rehabilitation Act extends vocational rehabilitation services to nonveterans.
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Dr. Edmund Fournier d'Albe invents the optophone - a device that scans text and generates chords of tones to identify letters.
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The Social Security Act provided grants to states for assisting blind individuals and children with disabilities.
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The Bardon-LaFollette Act (also known as the Rehabilitation Act) provided training funds for rehabilitation specialists.
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Rehabilitation Act was revised to include Section 504, which would not tolerate discrimination against people with disabilities.
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The Education for Handicapped Children Act protected education for students with disabilities in public schools, and publicly supported institutions of higher learning.
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VersaBraille was a personal computer with a refreshable braille display.
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The Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act was passed.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act extended the principles of Section 504 to all sectors of the United States, public and private.
