History of Special Education

  • The American School for the Deaf

    The American School for the Deaf
    The American School for the Deaf id was founded on April 15, 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the first school for disabled children anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.https://connecticuthistory.org/the-american-school-for-the-deaf-today-in-history/
  • Law Mandating Compulsory Education

    Law Mandating Compulsory Education
    Rhode Island passed a law mandating compulsory education for all children. Compulsory education is education in which children are required by law to receive and for governments to provide.
  • Association of Instructors of the Blind

    Association of Instructors of the Blind
    The school for the Deaf and the School for the Blind offer comprehensive educational programs for hearing impaired and visually impaired students.
  • Plessy vs. Ferguson

    Plessy vs. Ferguson
    The Supreme Court upheld the Louisan separate car act. Though this is not directly related to education, this did set the precedence of separate but equal.
  • Beattie v. Board of Education

    Beattie v. Board of Education
    Special needs students were expelled from school due to facial abnormalities and drooling. The students mental capacities were fine, but teachers and fellow students were nauseated by this student physical conditions.
  • Council for Exceptional Children

    Council for Exceptional Children
    The Council for Exceptional Children is the first advocacy group for children with disabilities. The CEC is one of the largest special education advocacy groups. The main objective of this group is to ensure that children with special needs receive FAPE.
  • Cuyahoga Council for Retarted Citizens

    Cuyahoga Council for Retarted Citizens
    A Parental Advocacy Group composed of five mothers of children with mental retardation who came to Cuyahoga, Ohio to protest their children’s exclusion from public schools. This lead to the establishment of a special class for the children, even though the parents sponsored it.
  • Classification of Autism

    Classification of Autism
    The classification of Autism was introduced by Dr. Leo Lanner of John Hopkins University.
  • National Association for Retarded Citizens

    National Association for Retarded Citizens
    The National Association for Retarded Citizens came about. NARC was formed by 23 individual advocacy groups that had the same belief so they came together as one. During the passing of IDEA, the NARC consisted of over 200,000 members. NARC helped with litigation and making sure that all parts of the judicial process were met.
  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Brown v. Board of Education
    A landmark court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson case saying that “Separate is not equal”. This court case brought attention to black v. white’s in school and special need students v. general education students. This case encouraged the formation of many advocacy groups to inform the public of need of special education programs.
  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    Elementary and Secondary Education Act
    The ESEA did not make it law to educate students with disabilities but it did give grants to state school sand institutions that put into place programs to educate students with disabilities.
  • Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
    Sided in favor of students with intellectual and learning disabilities in state-run institutions. PARC v. Penn called for students with disabilities to be places in publicly funded school settings that met their individual educational needs, based on a proper and through evaluation.
  • First Center for Independent Living Opens

    First Center for Independent Living Opens
    This center was made at UC Berkley by Ed Roberts to support the needs of individuals with disabilities so they can live independently and away from nursing homes and other institutions.
  • Section 504

    Section 504
    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act allows protection from discrimination of special needs and disabilities. Tis law is considered the first law giving protection to students with special needs. This law includes FAPE and LRE. Students are eligible when they have either a physical or mental disability that inhibits their learning experience.
  • Least Restrictive Environment

    Least Restrictive Environment
    Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means that with a student’s IEP , they must also be in as many regular education classes as possible. This ensures that the student has social experiences. In LRE classrooms paras and aids are usually required.
  • Handicapped Children’s Protection Act

    Handicapped Children’s Protection Act
    Signed by Ronald Regan the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act was a law that gave parents of children with disabilities more say in the development of their child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP)
  • IDEA

    IDEA
    The individuals with disabilities Education Act was also signed into law by George W. Bush. This law includes 6 pillars: FAPE, LRE, IEP, evaluation, parent/student participation, and all procedural safeguards for participants. This law also has 4 sections.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XMndYNEGFA&feature=emb_title
  • No Child Left Behind Act

    No Child Left Behind Act
    No Child Left Behind was signed into law by President George W. Bush. This law states that all students should be proficient in math and reading by 2014. This law had some states asking to not be part of it. Some schools have been caught falsifying scores while others took it seriously and reported if they were not proficient.