History of Autism Spectrum Disorder

By tylertheobald

  • The Discovery and Recognition of Autism as a Disability

    In 1943, Leo Kanner first used the term 'infantile autism' to describe children who seemed socially isolated and withdrawn.

  • 1943-1960 Beginning to understand autism

    Specific diagnoses of autism were still very rare in this time period as it was just group together as mental retardation along with many other disabilities. Also, there was still no access to public schooling for these students.

  • JFK's presidents pannel

    John F. Kennedy created the president's panel dealing with mental retardation (which was used to group together autism and other disabilities). This was instituted as a result of parents who began to protest the rights of their disabled children.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    This allowed for free access to public schooling for these students.

  • Early Education of Children with Autism

    At this time only 1 in every 5 children with special needs was being educated in the public school system.

  • Education for All Law

    This law mandated that a public education must be equally accessible to children with special needs. This law paved the way for IDEA.

  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

    This act protects the civil rights of people with disabilities, prohibiting discrimination against a person with a disability by an agency that receives federal funds. Students who are considered “handicapped” but do not require IDEA’s special education services can be provided with a 504 plan.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was approved. This law stated that all local public schools must provide free education for all disabled children without any additional cost to the parents.

  • Implementation of the IEP

    This made it so that any student with any disability, whether it be mental or physical, had an equal opportunity to get the same education as every other student.

  • Revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    This act was reformed by the Obama administration in 2010 into what is now known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).