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In 1798, the Fifth Congress passed and president John Adams signed the first federal law(An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen) for the care of individuals with disabilities. Through this law, a Marine hospital service was able to provide medical care to sick and disabled seamen.
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The increase in the amount of students with learning disabilities opened up the eyes of many educators. Rhode Island opens up the first special education class in the United States. This sets a trend for more and more schools to follow.
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Eunice Shriver authorized an article that told readers about her sister Rose who was a person with Mental Retardation. In this story, details on how the family adjusted and dealt were available for all to read. Millions read this story and it helped ease others who had a family member with a disability.
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The first Special Olympics took place in Chicago in the year 1968. Eunice Shriver founded the Special Olympics. The Special Olympics was designed to help individuals with disabilities build confidence, social skills and gain a sense of accomplishment.
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In 1971, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued by the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children over the law that gave public schools the right to deny a free education to children who had reached the age of 8 but had the mentality of a 5 year old. This case was the first major legal case to provide an equal opportunity for students with disabilities to access a free education.
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The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was enacted to ensure that there was no discrimination against anyone solely based on a disability. No federal agency, public university of other institution that received federal funding could turn away someone with a disability. -
In 1975, the Education for the Handicapped Act (EHA), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 was passed. This public law guaranteed a free appropriate education for all students with disabilities that were eligible for special education services and related services.
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New IDEA website
In 1990, US Congress reauthorized the Education for all Handicapped Children Act and changed the name to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA ensures that all children with disabilities are provided the same opportunity to a free appropriate education as their typically developing peers. -
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 called for all schools to be accountable for the academic performance of all children regardless if they had a disability or not. Through this law, schools are required to come up with assessments to monitor the progress of students; academic success.
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President George W. Bush signed the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004. With this improved act, changes to the law were made. Such changes included the promotion of accountability for results, increasing parental involvement, providing flexibility, etc.
