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1st American schools
These institutions were often private and were better at providing charity than an education (National Disability Authority, 2014). They were often called "asylums".
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Perkins School for the Blind
Started in Massachusetts, this school was the first school for the blind in the United States (National Park Service, 2017). The founder used an embossed letter system to teach students to read until braille was introduced in the late 1800s. -image taken from Flickr by the Boston Public Library -
Gallaudet University
This school was built in Washington D.C. for the deaf community (National Park Service, 2017). It continues to be the only American university specifically designed for those with loss of hearing. It often advocates for the rights of the deaf community.
-image from Picryl -
Volta Laboratory
This institution was created by Alexander Graham Bell (National Park Service, 2017). He wanted it to be the information center for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
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Advocacy Groups
Parents of students with disabilities first joined together to advocate for their children (All Star Staff, 2018). They fought for equality within education that provided quality special education instruction. -
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Proper Teacher Training
Advocacy groups for students with disabilities encouraged legislators to pass laws that required teachers to be trained to work with this group of students (All Star Staff, 2018). -
Brown vs. Board of Education of Kansas
This Supreme Court decision was monumental for its time (National Disability Authority, 2014). The lawyer argued that separate education facilities for people that were different from the majority were harmful to their learning experience. The court ruled that separate institutions for education created inequality.
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Special Education Funding
Multiple laws were passed to provide the funding for schools to implement proper special education programs (All Star Staff, 2018). -
Rehabilitation Act
This act protected the civil rights of all disabled people (All Star Staff, 2018). It required that schools provide accommodations for students with special needs. It also required that any federal program needed to be accessible to all people, regardless of their abilities (U.S. Access Board, date unknown). It also created a board to oversee schools' compliance with the law.
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Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142)
This law required all public schools to provide students with physical, emotional, behavioral, and learning disabilities be given a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment (Pardini, 2021). This law is viewed as the beginning of special education as it is seen today (All Star Staff, 2018).
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
This act required that students with disabilities be provided an education in the most inclusive environment possible based on abilities (Pardini, 2021). Their education must be individualized and documented with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) (Villegas, 2017). Furthermore, it emphasized the importance of parental involvement in creating the IEP, and it said that schools must provide all services, accommodations, and modifications for success.
-image from Upsplash.com -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act required that people with disabilities have equal treatment and access to employment opportunities, public venues, transportation, and other services (Villegas, 2017). It required schools to provide educational opportunities, extracurricular activities, and all buildings accessible to students with disabilities (Law Offices of Stimmel, Stimmel, and Roeser, 2021).
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Reauthorization of IDEA
This reinstated all standards from the original 1990 IDEA (Pardini, 2021). It also required that schools provide high-quality education to students with special needs (Villegas, 2017). Lastly, this law raised the expectations and support requirements for students who learned from the general education curriculum, required support for parents, and provided guidance for states on how to design high educational standards.
-image from Upsplash.com -
No Child Left Behind Act
This provided greater accountability to schools (All Star Staff, 2018). It also provided technology assistance and loan programs to those schools that met the criteria for successful educational programs. Its hope was to provide better quality and more options for special education resources.