Special Education Timeline

By ptucham
  • Institute for Blind Children

    Valentin Huay founds school to teach children who are blind.
  • First Medical Classifications of Mental Disorders

    Phillipe Pinel writes Treatise on Insanity leading to the classifications of: melancholy, dementia, mania without delirium, and mania with delirium
  • Connecticut Assylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons

    Thomas H. Gallaudet founds the first permanent school for the Deaf in America after traveling in Europe to learn their techniques.
  • Invention of the Raised Point Alphabet

    Louis Braille invents the raised point alphabet often referred to as braille.
  • Eugenic Sterilization Laws Spread

    25 US states pass a eugenic sterilization for "confirmed idiots"
  • Great Dede Dies of the "Spanish Flu"

    After less than two years in America, my great Dede dies during the "Spanish Flu" pandemic.
  • League for the Physically Handicapped Protests Employment Discrimination

    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) denied employment because job seekers were "physically handicapped." 300 members of the LftPH staged a sit in resulting in thousands of jobs being secured.
  • The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968

    The law mandates that all buildings that are "designed, constructed, altered, or leased with federal funds" must be accessible to people with disabilities.
  • First International Special Olympics

    Held in Chicago. First founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1962.
  • Last "Ugly Laws" Repealed

    Chicago repeals a law that had previously allowed police to arrest or jail people simply because they looked or acted as though they had a disability.
  • My Oldest Sister is Born

    Laura is born.
  • The Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975 passes

    Now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the law guarantees a "free, appropriate, public education for all children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment."
  • Occupation of the HEW Office

    In San Francisco, disability rights activists hold a sit-in for 25 days so that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 will go into effect. This results in it becoming illegal for federal agencies, public universities, and other public institutions receiving federal aid to discriminate on the basis of disability.
  • Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act passes

    The Department of Justice now has the power to "sue state or local institutions that violate the rights of people held against their will."
  • Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988

    The law increases funding, access, and availability of assistive technology in states and nationwide.
  • "Deaf President Now" Protest

    Gallaudet University students, faculty, and community demand that the university hire a deaf president.
  • Americans with Disabilities Act passes

    "Considered the most important civil rights law since Title 504"
  • My Birth

    I was born.
  • I Become an Aunt

    My oldest niece is born.
  • Graduate from College

    I graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.

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