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American School for the Deaf
Founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, in Hartford, Connecticut, the American School for the Deaf was the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States and a nationally renowned leader in providing comprehensive educational programs and services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. It is currently open today. -
Perkins School for the Blind
Founded in Boston, Massachusetts, Perkins was the first school for the blind established in the United States. It is known for developing literacy and independence for people who are blind and deaf/blind. It is also known for creating a new system for printing and reading embossed text as well as publishing and distributing books in that text. (Helen Keller attended this school) -
Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. It is the first advocacy group for children with disabilities. The CEC is one of the largest special education advocacy groups and maintains three distinct core values, including visionary, integrity, and inclusiveness.
[https://youtu.be/0f4o5KNO6-4] -
Discovering Autism
The first use of the word “autistic” was in the early 20th century. In 1912 it was used as a term to define symptoms associated with schizophrenia. It wasn’t until 1943 that “autism” was used as a diagnostic term. Leo Kanner developed the term 'infantile autism' to describe children who seemed socially isolated and withdrawn. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement, and a model for many future impact litigation cases of the civil rights movement. It helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. This case encouraged the formation of many advocacy groups to inform the public of the need of special education programs. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
This act required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities. The act also required that school districts provide administrative procedures so that parents of disabled children could dispute decisions made about their children's education. Disabled students should be placed in the least restrictive environment. -
Least Restrictive Environment
The EAHCA act allowed students with disabilities to be placed in the least restrictive environment (LRE) in order to allow the maximum possible opportunity to interact with non-disabled peers. When LRE comes up, so do the words mainstreaming and inclusion. It is also part of a student’s IEP and usually provides classrooms with paras and aids.
[https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/special-education-basics/least-restrictive-environment-lre-what-you-need-to-know] -
Board of Ed. of HHCD v. Rowley
A landmark case that designed the Rowley Two-Part test in determining whether FAPE is being met according to a student IEP. The two part test consists of questions asking if the school fulfilled the procedures of IDEA and “is the IEP developed through the procedures of the act”. If these two questions are answered correctly, then FAPE and IDEA have been met. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA was an act signed into law by President George W. Bush. It is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The act promises people with special needs will have the same rights as everybody else. -
IDEA
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act replaced the EAHCA in order to place more focus on the individual, as opposed to a condition that individual may have.There are six pillars to IDEA: Free Appropriate Public Education, Appropriate Evaluation, Individualized Education Plan, Least Restrictive Environment, Parent Participation, Procedural Safeguards. IDEA is composed of four parts. Each part of the law has remained largely the same since the original enactment in 1975. -
No Child Left Behind Act
This act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, it is the name for the most recent update to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It put focus on ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as English-language learners, students in special ed, and poor/minority children, whose achievement may trail their peers. If non compliance with states, Title I money was at risk of being lost.
