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1817 – Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet becomes principal of the American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, the first residential school in the U.S.
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Samuel Gridley Howe establishes the New England Asylum for the Blind
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In 1834, Louis Braille publishes the Braille code
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In 1839, the first teacher training program opens in Massachusetts
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1848 - Samuel Gridley Howe establishes the Massachusettes School for Idiotic and Feeble Minded Children
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1869 - First public school class for children with hearing impairments open in Boston
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1876 – Edouard Seguin helps to organize the first professional association concerned with disabilities (mental retardation), predecessor to today’ American Association on Mental Retardation
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1897 – National Education Association establishes a section for teachers of children with disabilities
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1898 – Elizabeth Farrel, later to become the first president of the Council for Exceptional Children, begins a program for “backwards” or “slow learning” children in New York City
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1904 – The Vineland Training School in New Jersey inaugurates training programs for teachers of students with mental retardation
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1916 – Louis Terman publishes the Standford-Binet Scale of Intelligence
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1920 – Teachers College, Columbia University, begins training program for teachers of pupils who are gifted
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1922 – Organization that later would become the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is founded in New York City
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1928 – Seeing Eye dogs for the blind are introduced in the United States
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1936 – First Compulsory law for testing the hearing of school-age children is enacted in New York
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1949 – United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) association is founded
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1950 – Association for Retarded Children (ARC) is founded (known today as the Association for Retarded Citizens, or simply the Arc)
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1953 – National Association for Gifted is founded
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1963 – Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (forerunner to Learning Disabilities Association of America) is organized
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1972 – Wolf Wolfensberger introduces the concept of normalization, initially coined by Begt Nirge of Sweden, to the United States
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1973 – Public Law 93-112, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is enacted; Section 504 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities
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1975 – Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) is passed; landmark legislation ensures, among other provisions, a free and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities
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1975 – Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) is passed; landmark legislation ensures, among other provisions, a free and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities
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1986 – Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (PL 99-457) is enacted; mandates a special education for pre-schoolers with disabilities and incentives for providing early intervention services to infants and toddlers
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1990 – Americans with DIsabilites Act (PL 101-336) becomes law; prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability
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1990 – PL 10-476, the Individials with Disabilities Education Act (commonly known as IDEA) is passed; among other provisions, emphasizes transition planning for adolescents with disabilities
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1997 – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (PL 105-117) is reauthorized, providing a major retooling and expansion of services for students with disabilities and their families
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All students including those with disabilities should be proficient in math and reading by the year 2014.
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Signed by President Barack Obama, this campaign promises "funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" and 12.2 billion dollars in additional funds
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Students with diabilities are now required to be included on state and district-wide assesments. Regular Education Teachers are to be included on the IEP team.
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