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Charles Michel L’Epée opened the first public school for deaf students. He used new ways to teach language and phonetics. His work began a movement for deaf education worldwide. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau published Émile, a book about how children learn. He believed teaching should follow a child’s pace, not society’s pressure. His ideas inspired later educators of children with disabilities. -
Valentin Haüy started the “Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles” in Paris, the first school for blind students. He created methods for reading and teaching that influenced later schools for the blind. -
Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc opened the first school for deaf students in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the beginning of formal education for students with hearing disabilities in the U.S. -
Samuel Gridley Howe founded the first U.S. school for blind children, later called Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. Howe also created schools for children with intellectual disabilities. -
Elizabeth Farrell helped found the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). This group advocated for laws to protect children with disabilities and improve teacher training. -
The Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional. Though about race, it also influenced later laws ensuring equal education for students with disabilities. -
Public Law 94-142 required schools to give students with disabilities free and appropriate public education. It also required Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and learning in the least restrictive environment. -
Public Law 94-142 was renamed IDEA. It guaranteed services and protections for students with disabilities, including IEPs and inclusion in general classrooms when possible. -
The ADA banned discrimination in jobs, transportation, and public places. It required access and accommodations for people with disabilities, supporting equal rights beyond school.