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Pedro Ponce de Leon Teaches Deaf Children to Read
Pedro Ponce de Leon was a Benedictine monk who taught two wealthy deaf boys how to read. This person became an important figure in early education proving that a person could overcome a disability and have the ability to learn with accomodations. -
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Timeline of Historical and Legal Perspecitives in Special Education
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Jean Marc Gaspard Itard and Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyon
Jean Marc Gaspard Itard became known as one of the founding fathers of special education through his work with Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyon. Victor was found in the wild and exhibited primitive behavior that had many locals label him as an "incurable idiot." He disagreed with this label and believed that Victor's apparent mental disability was due to a lack of human interaction. Itard developed an intensive individualized program that focused on increasing his interaction with other people -
School for the Blind opened by Samuel Howe
Samuel Howe became well known for opening up a school for the blind and his work promoting the education of children with disabilities. He believed that child with a disability could learn as much as other children. Working with Laura Bridgman, a girl who became deaf and blind from scarlet fever, he demonstrated that it was possible to educate a child with a disability. -
Braille used to teach blind children how to read at the Missouri School for the Blind
Dr. Simon Pollak brought the use of Braille from Europe and introduced it in the Missouri School for the Blind. It proved to be an important accomodation for the blind in learning how to read. -
Elizabeth Farrell appointed head of Department of Ungraded Classes
Elizabeth Farrell became the head of Ungraded Classed in New York which focused on children with disabilities needing special classes, not special schools. She advocated for the goal of integrating special needs children back to regular classes. She also believed that special classes be based on the special needs of children, rather than IQ scores. Her influence has influenced the idea of inclusion and accomodation in special education today. -
Henry H. Goddard and Eugenics
Henry H. Goddard promoted the theory of Eugenics which is a belief that the human race can be improved by manipulating which people are allowed to breed. This theory seemed to provide a negative view on people with disabilities and promoted the sterilization of these people. -
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is formed
The Council for the Education of Exceptional Children is organized by a group of administrators and teachers focusing on promoting the rights of special needs children. Elizabeth Farrell was the founder and first President. -
Parent groups form the Association for Retarded Children (ARC)
The Association for Retarded Children (ARC) becomes the first organization to put money into research on intellectual and developmental disabilities. This research helped provide further information in the development of new legislation along with teaching practices in working with special needs children. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling helped lay the foundation for the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which required access to a free appropriate public education for all children with disabilities. -
Association for Children with Learning Disabilities is formed
A group of parents formed the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities which brought to attention the lack of services for special needs children. Through their efforts, they were able to exert it's influence in getting legislation passed mandating remedial education designed to address the unique needs of children with learning disabilities. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law prohibiting race, color, and national origin discrimination. Titles III and IV of this act, allowed the attorney general to sue public schools and state and local government facilities that discriminated against any minority. In the following decades, Congress has used this law as a basis for writing further legislation prohibiting discrimination toward people with disabilities in educational programs receiving federal funds. -
Wolf Wolfensberger introduces the term normalization
Wolf Wolfensberger coined the phrase normalization which means making available to all people with disabilities the same conditions of everyday living which are as close as possible to the regular circumstances and ways of life or society. I believe his belief in normalization had an affect on future legislation advocating inclusion in the classroom -
PARC v. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court ruled that students with disabilities had their rights violated under both the Equal Protection clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court further ruled that Pennsylvania could not deny any child up to age 21 admission to a public school program “appropriate to his learning capacities”, or from having his educational status changed without first being notified of and given the opportunity for a due process hearing. -
Mills v. Board of Education
Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia was an important court rulings that helped lay the foundation for the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) which is now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is passed
Section 504 protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in school programs and activities that receive federal funds. This law requires a school district to provide a “free and appropriate public education” to each qualified person with a disability regardless of the nature or severity of the person’s disability. Section 504 tries to level the playing field so that a child with a disability has equal access to participate in activities the same as a child with no disability. -
The Education of All Handicapped Children Act is passed
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 required all schools receiving federal funding to provide handicapped children equal access to education and mandated that they be placed in the least restrictive educational environment possible. This act was also designed to give parents an avenue to seek out a legal remedy to any obstacle in a fair education for their disabled child. Eventually this act was later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) -
Board of Education v. Rowley
The Supreme Court decided in the Board of Education v. Rowley case that schools are only required to provide appropriate support that will help that child benefit from his/her education. It does not state that schools have the responsibility to maximize the potential of each student with a learning disability. This decision seems to favor school districts from investing resources into programs or services for children with special needs that could be met with existing or traditional means. -
Jose P. v. Ambach
The Jose P. v. Ambach, case decided that the rights of handicapped students to be referred, evaluated, and placed in a timely fashion into appropriate educational programs. -
Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education
The Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education case found that while it is beneficial for students to spend some portion of their day with their peers without disabilities, it also recognized that when students are not thriving it is necessary to look into a more restrictive environment where learning can be centered around their diverse and individual needs -
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is passed into law
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, signed by President Bush, is a civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities. Schools are mandated to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities providing them the auxiliary aids and services necessary to maintain access for an equal education. -
George H.W. Bush Signs Individuals With Disabilities Act
The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) provides guidelines to school for placement of students in special education services. This includes requiring an education team, of people that know the student, to evaluate a students for his/her placement and that the placement decision serves the student in the least restrictive environment. An IEP review meeting is required before any change in student placement. -
President Clinton signed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997
In 1997, President Clinton reauthorized IDEA with some changes. One new provision required that children with a disability take both district and state assessments, with modifications if necessary. It requires that students with a disability be included in general curriculum unless noted on the IEP. Another change ensures that a student with a disability will not be denied educational services due to misbehavior. This act also requires regular education teachers to be on the IEP team. -
The No Child Left Behind Act is signed by President Bush
The No Child Left Behind Act was designed to introduce national standards into the education curricullum. It requires that states set targets for overall achievement and for specific categories of students. These targets determine whether the school makes adequate yearly progress, or AYP, as measured by state standardized tests. Teachers must also be highly qualified to teach core academic subjects in every classroom -
IDEA Improvement Act of 2004 is signed into law by President Bush
With the signing of this reauthorization of IDEA, President Bush states that these changes will help children learn better by promoting accountability for results, enhancing parent involvement, using proven practices, providing more flexibility, and reducing paperwork for teachers, states and local school districts. These changes align help allign IDEA with No Child Left Behind. -
Schaffer v. Weast Montgomery County Schools
The Supreme Court states in this decision that either parents or the school district have the burden of proof in challenging an IEP of a student with a disability.
