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Jean Marc Gaspard Itard and Victor, "The Wild Boy of Aveyron"
Although Itard was trained by Pinel who thought "idiots" could be taught anything, Itard believed there was hope. While working as the Chief Physician at The National Institution for Deaf-Mutes in Paris, Itard begain working with Victor (labeled an "incurable idiot" by Pinel) focusing on enriching his environment and strengthening deficits. Victor never gained the ability speak, but he did gain numerous abilities in other areas such as independent living and academics. -
Edouard Seguin takes over
In 1837 Itard was asked to care for another boy like Victor, but due to his health he suggested Seguin should work with the child. Initially, Seguin was not sure he agreed with Itard's beliefs that "idiots" could be educated but he was willing to try. Using Itard's methods as a starting point he adapted those methods and, after 18 months working with the child, he was able to speak, write, and count. Seguin worked with more children and continued to see success. -
Seguin opens first school for students with disabilities
After seeing successes with several children, Edouard Seguin opened the first private school to educate students with intellectual disabilities in Paris, France. -
Seguin and the Physiological Method
Through his work, Seguin begain to believe that intellectual disabilities were due to stopped or slowed mental development. His theory of the Physiological Method was proving that some disabilities could be managed with the appropriate treatment. This treatment was based on strengthening the nervous system through stimulating sensory and motor development. Seguin utilized various textures, pressures, sensations, and movements with his patients. -
Seguin's text "Traitement Moral, Hygiene, et Education des Idiots"
Using the information Seguin was gaining from his school in Paris and results of his developing Physiological Method, Seguin came out with an important text. This text helped convince Jean Etienne Esquirol to assist Seguin with this experimental work in the field of educating those with intellectual disabilities. -
First American public school for the "feebleminded" children
While Samuel Gridley Howe and Horace Mann were vacationing with their wives in Europe, they visited several institutions for the blind and deaf to get new ideas. Howe was the superintendent at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Massachusetts. In October, 1848, he converted a wing of the institute into a public school for four boys considered idiots by the state. -
Seguin updates his text
Seguin moved to America in 1848 and continued his research. In 1866, he published a revised version of his original French text and released it in English. This was called "Idiocy and Its Treatment by the Physiological Method." This text was instrumental for the special schools opening during that time period. -
"Ungraded" classes established
Even with the ruling of Ward v. Flood, "ungraded" classes were being established around America. These classes were typically for boys who were often truant or whose behavior impeded their academic performance. These classes were known to be in Connecticut, Cleveland, and New York City. -
Ward v. Flood
The California Supreme Court upheld a ruling that "a principal of a public school could refuse to admit a child who had not had sufficient education to perform at the lowest grade of the school." This perpetuated segregating those with disabilities from the general education students. -
First public classes for "feebleminded" children
In 1896, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, opened up their first public classes for children considered "feebleminded." A few years later, in 1899, Chicago Public Schools offered classes for "crippled" children. -
National Education Association establishes Department of Special Education
In 1899, the NEA established a Department of Special Education. This effort was lead by Alexander Graham Bell and originally focused mainly on educating deaf children. -
Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale created
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xe99WG3P-o] In 1905, French psychologist Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon, his doctoral student, worked for the la Societe' Libre pour l'Etude Psychologique de l'Enfant (Free Society for the Psychological Study of the Child) to create a way to measure intelligence. They wanted to find a way to help those students who were not succeeding in school by determining what areas they required the most help in. -
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Goddard adapts Binet-Simon scale
Henry Herbert Goddard was the director at Vineland Training School in New Jersey. In 1908 he traveled to Europe and brought back the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. He had it translated into English along with the next two revisions, and helped test the 1911 version. This helped lead the assessment to be more widely used at institutions to determine norms, deficits, and calculated mental age for those with intellectual disabilities.
[https://www.sutori.com/en/item/untitled-c474-0a18] -
Elizabeth Farrell and Goddard bump heads
Under the direction of Elizabeth Farrell, the ungraded classes in New York City Public Schools grew from 10 in 1903 to 131 in 1912. Goddard participated in the New York City School Survey of 1911-1912 and released a report titled "School Training of Defective Children" stating there should be a separate school system for defective children. Farrell argued back and the city maintained Farrell's model of self-contained classrooms.
