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Public School for People with Disabilities
Charles Michel L’Epeé founded the first public school for people with disabilities in France. Charles Michel L’Epeé was one of the pioneers in the 18th century that was concerned with the education of individuals with disabilities. He was especially concerned with language and phonetics being taught differently to deaf and blind students. -
First School for the Blind
Valentin Haüy founded the “Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles” in Paris, France. It is recognized as the first school in the world for the education of individuals with blindness. Using methods he learned from people that came before him, including those of L’Epeé, Haüy was able to educate a blind boy who later became a teacher in the same school -
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) was founded by Elizabeth Farrell. This Council plays an important role in providing laws to protect those with disabilities. It is a national, non-profit organization that aims to improve educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, including those with disabilities, gifts, and/or talents. -
Research on Exceptional Children
The first institution for research on exceptional children opened at the University of Illinois. It began its research on the “slow learner” which would, in the future, become the newest focus of the field of special education. This eventually became what we, nowadays, recognize as learning disabilities. -
PARC v. Commonwealth of PA
Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Children (PARC) versus Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was a court case that was a significant landmark in changing the laws surrounding special education and children with disabilities. The ruling guaranteed special education for children of Pennsylvania with intellectual disabilities. It prohibited the state from denying a child's right to equal access to education just because of their intellectual and/or developmental disability. -
P.L 94-142
Public Law 94-142 also known as The Education for All Handicapped Children Act guaranteed that people with disabilities had the right to free and appropriate public education, in the least restrictive environment. In addition, it required that each person with a disability had their own educational plan (IEP) and that all people with disabilities had the right to a fair due process. -
Honig v. Doe
This court case benefited individuals with emotional or behavioral disorders with academic and social problems. The ruling stated that schools could not expel children for behaviors related to their disability due to the "stay-put" provision of the Education of the Handicapped Act.
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P.L 105-17
Public Law 105-17, also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), brought various benefits to students with disabilities. For example, it requires students with disabilities to continue receiving services even if expelled and requires that they be given access to the general education curriculum and state/district-wide testing. It was meant to ensure that all students receive a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE). -
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCBL) increased accountability for schools for how students learned and achieved. It also increased flexibility for how schools decided to use the federal funding they received, offered more school choice options, and implemented early reading interventions.
No Child Left Behind: Explained & Summarized -
P.L 108-446
Public Law 108-446, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), expands upon the IDEA of 1997. Most significantly, it added nondiscriminatory evaluation, ensured that the law aligned with the NCLB Act, required parent participation throughout the identification and evaluation process of students with disabilities, and required the inclusion of transition services, among other additions