History of Special Education and Inclusive Education Timetoast Timeline

  • 1800s

    1800s

    In the 1800s people with disabilities were usually confined to institutions that did were meant to isolate them from society. They were mostly kept in these facilities with not treatment or any kind of assistance. These facilities housed people with all kinds of disabilities, be it mental, developmental, physical, other, or multiple. Little attempts were made to accommodate the people being cared for.
  • 1817 Gallaudet School

    Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet opened the first special education school in the United States. This school. This school catered to deaf and hard of hearing students and was first called the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. In 1864, the school was federally chartered by President Abraham Lincoln founding Gallaudet University.
    https://gallaudet.edu/about/
  • 1922 Council for Exceptional Children

    1922 Council for Exceptional Children

    This council was created on August 10th of this year. The council focuses on inclusivity with a commitment to support the rights of all individuals. They focus on diversity and creating new solutions that benefit a wider range of people.
    Council for Exceptional Children
  • 1931 Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital

    First hospital in the United States created to treat children with mental health and/or neurological disorders. It was created in honor of Emma Pendelton Bradley who suffered from complications from encephalitis. Her father donated the family estate to create a hospital for the treatment of children giving preference to poor families who would only be charged if they could afford it.

    Article
  • 1952 Inst. Research on Exceptional Children

    Created to study physically and mentally handicapped children, public welfare services, gifted children and offer advanced programs of study. The research done in this university was done with the Illinois Department of Public Welfare and Public Instruction to provide facilities, staff and ultimately to create training for workers and advanced degree programs.
    University of Illinois
  • 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unlawful to discriminate against a group of individuals for arbitrary reasons. This opened the door to the creation of federal law to protect individuals with disabilities and require equal access to education for all. The precedent created by this ruling helped to shine a light on all the opportunities that were not available to children with disabilities in the educational system and has been used by many to help change laws to protect them.
  • 1965 Elementary & Secondary Education Act

    This Act was passed in 1965 to authorize state-run programs for schools to improve the academic achievement of children that were struggling to learn and to help students facing challenges arising from poverty, disability, learning difficulties, transience, those who needed to learn English, etc. President Lyndon Johnson wanted to make access to full educational opportunities to be a civil rights law. Video
  • 1972 (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    1972 (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The lawsuit represented 14 families whose intellectually disabled children were not able to access public schools. The court ruled that the state could not deny an individual’s right to equal access to education based on intellectual or developmental disability. Established that people born with intellectual disabilities had the right to the same access to education in the least restrictive alternative (LRE) rather than be separated, relegated or outright excluded due to their disabilities.
  • 1975 Edu. All Handicapped Children Act

    1975 Edu. All Handicapped Children Act

    Created to protect the rights, meet the needs, and improve the results for all children with disabilities. Before this many disabled children were not allowed access to education and many states had laws excluding students who were deaf, blind, or had an intellectual or mental disability. Allowed these children to attend neighborhood schools rather than separate schools/institutions allowing them to learn alongside other children and in the least restrictive environment possible (LRE).
  • 2004 Individuals w/Disabilities Education Act

    2004 Individuals w/Disabilities Education Act

    Reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act now named Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Schools must find & evaluate students thought to have disabilities at no cost to families in order to provide them with educational plans and opportunities that will help them succeed. Requires schools to provide free appropriate public education to kids with disabilities and this education must be provided alongside with peers in the least restrictive environment.