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American School for the Deaf
The first school for special needs students was founded in Conneticut in 1817. It was modeled after similar schools for the deaf in Paris at the time. Seven students enrolled when it first opened, and today it has 174 students. -
Kentucky School for the Deaf
The first publicly-funded school for disbled students was established. Students traveled to attend from all over the US before similar institutions were founded in more states. This school also employed deaf teachers. -
Cuyahoga County Ohio Council for the Retarded Children
Five mothers of children with disibilities banded together to protest the exclusion of their children in school. This was the first parent advocacy group. After it's success, many other local advocacy groups formed throughout the US. -
Classification of Autism
Leo Kanner identified Autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder in a publication. He pushed back against the idea that Autism is caused by poor parenting and suggested it might be genetic. Throughout his life he advocated for children with Autism and insited that each child's case was unique and should be treated as such. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This landmark case ruled against the idea of "seperate but equal" schooling. Racial segregation in schools was deemed unconstitutional and brought attention to the segregation of disabled students. This victory encouraged the formation of new advocasy groups. -
Mills v. Board of Education
This lawsuit was made on behalf of seven children who were denied a public education due to what it would cost the school to accomodate them. This was the first case to guarantee access to education for students with disabilities. After the lawsuit federal legislation was made to ensure funding for schools would be available. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
This law required states to provide free and adequate education for all children, including those with disabilities. Before this law, schools were able to deny students from attending based on their disabilities. The law has been updated and reauthorized, changing the name to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, in the 1990's.
https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History -
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. Individuals with disabilites were guaranteed equal access to employment and transportation for the first time. This law also set a standard for reasonable accomodations for employers to make for their employees.
This video provides an overview of what is included in the law:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKyjshcxbI0 -
No Child Left Behind Act
President George W. Bush signed the act into law in 2001. The goal of the law was to increase accountability of schools and to establish educational standards across the US. Each state determines it's own standards and facilitates testing to determine success. -
Every Student Succeeds Act
This law replaced the No Child Left Behind Act and addressed many of the criticisms. Schools are still required to implement standardized testing, but they can provide alternate tests or special accomodations for students who need them. States are also able to look at more factors than just test scores when evaluating a school.