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Parent Advocacy
During the 1940's and 1950's, parent advocate groups led the charge in fighting for the rights of children with disabilities. https://americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/exhibit_ada.html -
Parent Advocate Letter
"Letter from a School District seeking help as a parent would not stop trying to get education for their child" https://americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/exhibit_ada.html -
National Association for Retarded Children Newsletter
In regards to the recent Brown v. Board of Education decision, the author of NARC penned this newsletter and sent it to the publication "Children Limited": “You will recognize, I am sure, that this statement of equal opportunity applies to the handicapped as it does to the minorities" This newsletter exemplifies the importance of this case and the civil rights moment as a whole in setting the ground of disability rights.
https://www-jstor-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/stable/42772958?seq=4 -
U.S. Supreme Court Decision Brown v. Board of Education
"The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that it was unconstitutional for educational institutions to segregate children by race. This landmark legal ruling would have far-reaching implications for the special education arena." https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline photo: https://www.wrightslaw.com -
Training of Professional Personnel Act
Giving teachers and caregivers training to work with children with disabilities.
https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Teachers of the Deaf Act
"trained instructional personnel for children who were deaf or hard of hearing" https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Nevada Revised Statutes
"Nevada statutes allowed for the exclusion of children whose 'physical or mental condition or attitude [is] such as to present or render inadvisable [their] attendance at school or [their] application to study" (Nevada Revised Statutes, 1963).
https://www-jstor-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/stable/42772958?seq=4 -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act & State Schools Act
This act gave states grants for special education purposes https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act
gave support to early childhood special education programs https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Education for Children with Disabilities
"U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students, including children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or mentally retarded." https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ruling
"In the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ruling, the U.S. District Court sided in favor of students with intellectual and learning disabilities in state-run institutions. PARC v. Penn called for students with disabilities to be placed in publicly funded school settings that met their individual educational needs, based on a proper and thorough evaluation." https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline
photo: www.wrightslaw.com -
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
"In the Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia students classified as “exceptional”—including those with mental and learning disabilities and behavioral issues. This ruling made it unlawful for the D.C. Board of Education to deny these individuals access to publicly funded educational opportunities."
https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline -
Economic Opportunities Amendments
Gave more children with disabilities access to Head Start https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-history.pdf -
Congressional Investigation of 1972
Following the PARC and Mills decisions, Congress investigated how many children were adequately receiving special education services and which were "underserved." According to the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped: " there were eight million children requiring special education services. 3.9 million students had their educational needs met, 2.5 million received a substandard education and 1.75 million weren’t in school."
https://educationonline.ku.edu
photo: https://www.wrightslaw.com -
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
Signed by President Gerald Ford this Act (Public Law 94-142), made it mandatory for states receiving federal money to, "provide equal access to education for children with disabilities, in addition to providing them with one free meal per day. States had the responsibility to ensure compliance under the law within all of their public school systems." https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline
photo: https://www.wrightslaw.com -
Public Law 99-457
This law made it mandatory for states to provide children with disabilities services and accommodations from birth as opposed to beginning at age 3. This was an amendment to the All Handicapped Children Act https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline -
American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities Sit-In at HEW Offices begins
This sit-in took place for 25 days in April of 1977 at the HEW headquarters in San Francisco. "150 disability rights activists" occupied the building until then President Jimmy Carter "agreed to implement a four-year-old law protecting the rights of people with disabilities." https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/sitting-disability-rights-section-504-protests-1970s photo:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/exhibit_ada.html -
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Sit-in at HEW Headquarters
"Through the sit-in, we turned ourselves from being oppressed individuals into being empowered people. We demonstrated to the entire nation that disabled people could take control over our own lives and take leadership in the struggle for equality"--Activist Judy Neumann https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/sitting-disability-rights-section-504-protests-1970s -
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Section 504 Signed
Upon signing Section 504, the subject of the HEW sit-in, it mandated that "no program receiving federal funds could discriminate against people with disabilities. This was an important stepping stone to what would come to be knows as the Americans with Disabilities Act https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/sitting-disability-rights-section-504-protests-1970s
photo: http://artpictures.club/autumn-2023.html -
Handicapped Children's Protection Act
This Act, signed by President Ronald Reagan,
"gave parents of children with disabilities more say in the development of their child’s Individual Education Plan, or IEP."
https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline -
Public Law 101-476
This law addressed to the gaps in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. It established new categories considered disabilities: "traumatic brain injuries and autism." This also made mandatory the addition of an Individual Transition Plan to their Individual Education Plan. This is to "to help the student transition to post-secondary life."
https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
This Act replaced the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act and was signed by President Clinton. This Act featured the additions: "providing all students with access to the same curriculum, additionally, states were given the authority to expand the “developmental delay” definition from birth through five years of age to also include students between the ages of six and nine." https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline -
Americans with Disabilities Act Passed
This Act established civil rights for people with disabilities and made it illegal to "discrimina[te] against individuals with disabilities in many areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and many public and private places that are open to the general public https://adata.org/learn-about-ada
photo:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/exhibit_ada.html -
Congress IDEA Amendment
This amendment included Early Intervention, established more rigorous standards for Special Education instructors, and "required states to demand that local school districts shift up to 15% of their special education funds toward general education if it were determined that a disproportionate number of students from minority groups were placed in special education for reasons other than disability." https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline
