Special Education

By Shahin Pamatmat
  • Period: 1500 BCE to 1400 BCE

    Early History

    i. Children who were suspected of having a disability were killed instantly.
    ii. Children who were spared death were sold for entertainment within the Roman Empire
  • Period: 1 CE to 100

    First Century

    i. Religious leaders such as Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Confucius were
    believed to be great advocates for people with disabilities.
    ii. Early Christian doctrine introduced the view that disease is neither a disgrace nor a
    punishment for sin but, on the contrary, a means of purification and a way of grace
  • Period: 1500 to

    1500-1600

    Christian leaders began to believe that individuals with disabilities were possessed by evil spirits and often used procedures that causes mental and/or physical pain as a means
    of exorcising the spirits.
  • Period: to

    1600’s

    i. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (John Locke)
    ii. Believed a person was born with a tubula rasa (blank slate).
    iii. Believed a person could be trained or taught to be productive members of
    society.
    iv. First person to distinguish between mental retardation and mental illness.
  • Period: to

    1700's

    i. The development of the first intelligence test which led to residential training schools
    popping up around the U.S.
    ii. Overcrowding soon became a big issue and students were filtered out of
    general education classes and into special education classes.
  • Period: to

    Early 20th Century

    i. Doctors were urging parents to put their children with disabilities into institutions.
    ii. Millions of children with disabilities were denied services in schools (school districts
    could legally refuse to educate anyone they deemed unable to learn).
  • Period: to

    1954

    i. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)- deemed racial segregation of children in public
    schools unconstitutional- sparked a grassroots effort to end segregation of individuals
    with disabilities.
  • Period: to

    1975

    i. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) is enacted. Today we
    know this law as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
    ii. EAHCA, along with some key supreme court cases, mandated all school districts to
    educate students with disabilities.
  • Period: to

    504 Sit-in

    Members of the disability community occupied federal buildings in the United States to push the issuance of long-delayed regulations regarding Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • Period: to

    1990

    American with Disabilities Act was enacted 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 purpose of the law is to
    make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as
    everyone else.