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Phillipe Pinel
Born: April 20, 1745, Jonquières, France
Died: October 25, 1826, Paris, France Regarded as the founder of Psychiatry, Pinel considered that people with intellectual disabilities were incurable. He was a chief physician who advanced treatments of those with mental illness and intellectual disability (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 6) -
Jean Marc Gaspard Itard
Born April 24, 1774
Death July 5, 1838 Credited with his attempts at utilizing interventions to help the "Wild Boy of Averyon" Victor, Itard made efforts between 1801-1805 to educate Victor. While his attempts at speech and word recognition failed, Itard succeeded in giving Victor usable social and independent living skills (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 6). -
Jean Etienne Esquirol
A student of Pinel, Esquirol mirrored the idea that those with intellectual disability were uneducable and incurable which lead him to scoff at Itard's efforts at educating Victor. He continued Pinel's work and differentiated between dementia and amentia (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 6). -
Edouard Seguin
Lifespan (1812 - 1880)
Following Itard's work, Seguin believed Idiocy could be overcome with proper treatment. He took over Itard's work (despite Esquirol's comment that he is wasting his time) and established the first school for students with Intellectual Disabilities (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 7). -
Samuel Gridley Howe
A social reformer, Howe established the "first public school for feebleminded children" in Boston in the year 1848 (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 7). His most notable work was with Laura Bridgman in 1829. -
Ward V. Flood
This case was two-fold. Mary Ward, an eleven year old student, was denied acceptance in a California Public School due to insufficient education and her race. Mary was an African-American who was considered unable to master the lowest grade curriculum. This case lead to having "ungraded classes" for those unable to succeed in general education (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 9). -
Henry Herbert Goddard
Goddard learned of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale while in Europe and used it with the inmates of Vineland Training School. Goddard contended with Elizabeth Farrell on the basis that separate school system should be created for defective children. The end result was a draw in favor of Farrell's model of self-contained classrooms in a general education (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 10). -
Elizabeth Ferrell
Credited with spearheading an ungraded class founding in the New York City Public Schools, Elizabeth contended with Goddard that the test items on exams could be foreign to some students in New York City. She started using intelligence tests and in 1922, formed the Council for Exceptional Children (Wehmeyer, 2017, P. 10-11). -
The Arc
Originally the National Association of Parents and Friends of Retarded Children, the ARC was established in the 1950's to research Intellectual Disabilities. It was represented on the President's Panel on Mental Retardation. The organization spanned multiple decades to present advocating for multiple different rights of individuals with disabilities (ARC, 2021)link Text -
PL 94-142
Put into law in 1975, this act was accepted by President Ford to provide FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) to individuals with disabilities (IDEA, 2020).link text -
PL 101-146
Autism and Traumatic Brain Injury was added to the categories of disabilities under the new name: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. -
No Child Left Behind
Enacted by President Bush in 2001, it afforded extra support to individuals with disabilities a chance to rise up to state standards. This Act was controversial and eventually replaced with ESSA in 2015. -
Every Student Succeeds Act
The law that was updated from the ESEA and NCLB about having equal opportunity to succeed for all students. It was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015.Link text