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During this period, there were private schools for students with disabilities, mostly in rural areas.
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The first special education school, The American Asylum for the Education & Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb (now called, The American School for the Deaf) was opened in Hartford Connecticut. This was an early example of efforts to provide education for students with disabilities. -
Rhode Island was the first state to mandate compulsory school attendance for all school age children. It would still be several decades before this mandate was implemented nationwide. Students with disabilities were still excluded from most public schools, and would be for several decades to come. -
Institutionalization was a movement that began in the late 19th century and called for the confinement of people with disabilities, including children, to specialized institutions that were often state run. Often these institutions were overcrowded, unsanitary, and provided little in the way of education, training, or treatment for those in need. At the time it was thought that people with certain disabilities needed to be segregated from the rest of society.
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The state of Rhode Island opened the first public special education classroom in its public school system. Before that time, all special education was conducted in private institutions or at home with private tutors. This was the beginning of Special education as a state function. -
By 1918, compulsory education laws had been enacted in all 50 states. While more children were admitted to public schools, there were still many exclusionary policies in place. Schools were still segregated by race in many parts of the country and many children with disabilities were excluded from educational settings or had severely limited options regarding access to education. -
Separate classrooms for students with disabilities began to be established in many public schools across the country. Today there are still separate classrooms for students with disabilities but now they are governed by modern legislation that safeguards students' rights and access to a Free and Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment.
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The University of Illinois launched its first research initiative for the investigation of learning disabilities in 1951. This was a major step forward in the field of special education. It was the beginning of the creation of peer-reviewed evidenced based literature and practices that would revolutionize the field. -
This landmark court decision fundamentally changed education and by extension public accommodation forever in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separation of students by race in separate accommodations was inherently unequal. This would lead to the desegregation of schools in the U.S, and eventually, the desegregation of all other public facilities. -
The Special Olympics was created to give people with disabilities an opportunity to compete in athletic events in a controlled and supportive environment. This worldwide movement was a great step forward in terms of inclusiveness for people with disabilities. This drive for inclusiveness for people with disabilities was to become a driving force for inclusiveness in education and other domains of social life. -
This landmark court case was the foundation for successive legislation regarding Special Education in the U.S. The court ordered students with disabilities receive, "access to a free program of education and training appropriate for his/her learning capacities." This case was fundamental in establishing the precedents of FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) and LRE (Least restrictive environment). PARC vs. Pennsylvania -
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act codified many of the aspects of the PARC vs. Pennsylvania into Federal law. This act mandated a zero-reject policy for students with disabilities, Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students, appropriate evaluation, procedural safeguards, parent and child participation, and FAPE.
EHCA -
The original EHA law was revised in 1990 and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The revisions to the law added more inclusive language and increased funding and resources for special education programs nationwide. The most recent revision to the law was in 2004 and presently the law is still in force today.