Historical Timeline of Special Education

By jacquelynhedrick

  • The American School for the Deaf

    The first permanent school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf, was founded by Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet in Hartford, Connecticut (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the American School for the deaf, visit the following link: https://www.asd-1817.org/. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Braille Developed

    Louis Braille completed a reading system of raised dots which now uses his name, referred to simply as braille (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about braille, please visit the following link: https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/braille/what-braille. To learn more about visual impairments and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/fLy5PN8xTTmyj/.

  • The Perkins School for the Blind

    The first school for the blind, now known as the Perkins School for the Blind, was established in Boston (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the Perkins School, please visit the following link: https://www.perkins.org/. To learn more about visual impairments and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/fLy5PN8xTTmyj/.

  • State of the Field

    At this point in time, there were only several professionals, such as Drs. Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Seguin, who had attempted to educate children with intellectual or developmental disabilities (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about Drs. Itard, and Seguin, visit the following links: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7045553 and https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/four/4b/4.html.

  • Gallaudet College

    Gallaudet College, the first higher education institution for the Deaf, was founded in Washington, DC (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about Gallaudet College, please visit the following link: https://www.gallaudet.edu/. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • New Methods

    Dr. Maria Montessori began to work with young children with IDD by using visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory senses to stimulate learning about their environment. This method is now referred to as ‘sense training’ (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about Dr. Maria Montessori, please visit the following link: https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/History-of-Montessori.

  • Smith-Sears Vocational Rehabilitation Act

    A legislative measure was passed to assist World War I veterans with physical disabilities in pursuing employment (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this law, please visit the following link: https://bit.ly/2vhUf6I. To learn more about physical disabilities and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/HdhZJVKqh6pHB/.

  • Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

    The CEC was founded in an effort to assist educators providing services to children with disabilities (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the CEC, please visit the following link: https://www.cec.sped.org/. Exceptional children include children with special gifts and talents. To learn more about SGT and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/p8xYTkYnbnEm3/.

  • Identification of ADHD

    In the 1930s and 1940s, educators began to develop a cohesive picture of children who displayed symptoms now associated with ADHD. At the time, it was termed ‘Strauss Syndrome.’ Around the same time period, physicians began to do the same but associated it with mild traumatic brain injury (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about ADHD and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/CauLgUImmObCi/.

  • The New Deal

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal featured provisions for vocational rehab, retirement support, and other benefits for individuals with disabilities in the Social Security Act (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the Social Security act, please visit the following link: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=68.

  • New Discoveries

    In the 1940s, Drs. Harold Skeels and Harold Dye challenged "the belief that nothing could be done to improve outcomes for children with disabilities" when they conducted a study which found that orphaned children placed in foster homes or adopted fared better intellectually and developmentally than those who remained in an institution (Skeels & Dye, 1939 as cited by Kirk et al., 2015).

  • Autism First Described in US

    Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins University published what some say was the first paper to describe autism in children (Kirk et al., 2015). To read this paper and/or learn more about Kanner, please visit the following link: https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/leo-kanners-1943-paper-on-autism/. To learn more about autism and access relevant resources, visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/QB5GzaabV0gQC/.

  • New Terminology

    Samuel Kirk coined the term “learning disability” to describe children with demonstrated intelligence who struggled in academic areas due to neurological issues (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about learning disabilities and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/MQBZCJEKJ9w56/.

  • Public Law (PL 88-164)

    This provided government funds to cover the cost of training professionals to work with exceptional children, and to research best practices in the field. This saw the beginning of the federal government taking on the provision of supports to individuals with disabilities (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this legislation, please visit the following link https://bit.ly/1MQc2qd.

  • Architectural Barriers Act

    The 1968 Architectural Barriers Act would serve as a foundation for later legislation around public accessibility (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this law, please visit the following link: https://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/accessibility/Architectural_Barriers.htm. To learn more about physical disabilities and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/HdhZJVKqh6pHB/.

  • The Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act

    The Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act was passed by Congress and established twenty model programs across the country intended to illustrate the effect that early intervention could have on the lives of children with disabilities (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this law, please visit the following link: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/ei-history/.

  • Total Communication

    In the 1970s, Bob Holcomb popularized the total communication method which combined manual communication and speech (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more, visit the following link: https://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/articles/totalcom.htm. This method also applies to communication, language, and speech disorders. To learn more and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/HIp0atI1oglV9/.

  • Mills v. Board of Education

    This case ruled that "the presumed absence of funds is not an excuse for failing to provide educational services to students with exceptionalities. If sufficient funds are not available, then all programs should be cut back" (Mills v. Board of Education as cited by Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this case, visit the following link: https://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-education/.

  • Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    This ruled that children w/ IDD had a right to a free and appropriate public education and could not be denied one on the basis of their disability (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this case, please visit the following link: https://rootedinrights.org/15321-revision-v1/. To learn more about IDD and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/0Uv45hAlcn1uu/.

  • The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    This piece of legislation features a section referred to as Section 504, which states that denying someone the right to participate in an activity or program on the basis of their disability constitutes an illegal act. Students who do not fall under IDEA are protected by Section 504 (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this law, visit the following link: https://www.pacer.org/transition/learning-center/laws/rehab.asp.

  • The Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as IDEA, did not take effect until 1977 but the legislation mandated that all children with disabilities were given the opportunity to pursue a free and appropriate public education, as well as services which would meet their individual needs (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about IDEA, visit the following link: https://sites.ed.gov/idea.

  • Larry P. v. Riles

    In Larry P. v. Riles, it was determined that eligibility for special education services must be determined by an evaluation and diagnosis that is made when considering the cultural and linguistic background of the student in question (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this decision, visit the following link: https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=13908.

  • Jose P. v. Ambach

    This case resulted in a ruling which stated that children with multilingual backgrounds must be evaluated and assessed for services in a manner that reflects that (Kirk et al., 2015). To read more about this case, visit the following link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001440298605200402.

  • IDEA Amendments

    Amendments were made to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act when it was found that it lacked provisions for younger children. These amendments also renamed the law to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA (Kirk et al., 2015). IDEA applies to students with emotional and behavioral disorders as well. To learn more about EBD and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/pdHvxe6kjce0G/.

  • National Information Center on Deafness

    Congress established the National Information Center of Deafness (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the NICD, visit the following link: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Helen Keller National Center for Technical Assistance

    The Helen Keller National Center for Technical Assistance was commissioned by Congress (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the center, visit the following link: https://www.helenkeller.org/hknc. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Telephone Relay Systems

    Law began to require statewide telephone relay systems to ensure phone access to individuals with hearing impairments (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about these systems, visit this link: https://www.nad.org/resources/technology/telephone-and-relay-services/. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Barnett v. Fairfax County Board of Education

    This case allowed a child with a hearing disability to attend a school they were not assigned to on the basis that this school would be able to provide services more appropriate for the child's needs (Barnett v. Fairfax County Board of Education, 1991 as cited by Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Greer v. Rome City School District

    In this ruling, the court decided that inclusion should be prioritized and thus a child with Down syndrome was placed in a general education classroom rather than a special education classroom (Greer v. Rome City School district as cited by Kirk et al., 2015).

  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    The ADA was passed under President Bill Clinton and signified the provision of civil rights to individuals with disabilities (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the ADA, visit the following link: https://www.ada.gov/. To learn more about physical disabilities and access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/HdhZJVKqh6pHB/.

  • Closed Captioning

    All television sets of a certain size were required to be equipped w/ the technology necessary to receive broadcasts w/ closed captioning (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about closed captioning, visit the following link: https://www.ncicap.org/about-us/history-of-closed-captioning/. To learn more about deafness, hearing loss, and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/FPozAmqP1sWxl.

  • Oberti v. Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon School District

    The court in this case ruled that in order for a child to be placed in a separate special education classroom, their disability had to be so severe that inclusion would not benefit them and/or they had to be disruptive to the learning of their classmates (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this case, visit the following link: https://www.pubintlaw.org/cases-and-projects/oberti-v-board-of-education-of-the-borough-of-clementon/.

  • The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

    The NCLB was passed in 2001 under President George W. Bush and required schools and educators to bring students to a minimum level of competency by requiring schools to "present test data to prove their effectiveness." Many feel the expectations of the NCLB were too high for some exceptional students to reach, and far too low to measure the performance of others (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about the NCLB, visit the following link: https://u.org/2lwADst.

  • Reauthorization of IDEA

    IDEA was reauthorized in 2004. Changes included the provision for quality personnel, requiring specialists in special education to be certified in special education at the state level, to have a teaching license, and to demonstrate competency in the curriculum. It also included an RtI approach to identifying students with disabilities. IEP standards had to be evidence-based, and transition planning was mandated for every IEP for students 16 and older (Kirk et al., 2015).

  • Combating Autism Act

    This law established centers of excellence for ASD research and authorized activities to increase awareness, equip healthcare providers to assist people w/ ASD, and increase early intervention services (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this law, visit the following link: https://bit.ly/2vllcXb. To learn more about ASD and access relevant resources, visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/QB5GzaabV0gQC/.

  • Changing Terminology

    The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities changed to its current name from the former American Association on Mental Retardation (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about IDD and to access relevant resources, please visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/0Uv45hAlcn1uu/.

  • Henrico County School Board v. R.T.

    This case determined that a child with autism should be reimbursed by the public school system for the costs that child attending private school due to the public schools' failure to provide an appropriate education (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more about this case, visit this link: https://bit.ly/2IykUoN. To learn more about autism and access relevant resources, visit the following link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/QB5GzaabV0gQC/.

  • Winkleman v. Parma City School District

    The court ruled in this case that parents played an integral role in ensuring that children received a free and appropriate public education (Kirk et al., 2015). To read more about this case, visit the following link: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-983.ZO.html.

  • The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed in response to the recession that took place over the course of 2008 and 2009. It provided additional federal funds to the states through IDEA to improve early intervention services. Those services targeting infants and toddlers from birth to age two were given $500M, and $400M was given for services for children age three through five (Kirk et al., 2015). To learn more, visit this link: https://bit.ly/2UyF8jy.

  • Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

    ESSA, authorized by President Obama, was a piece of legislation to replace the NCLB Act. It seeks to "provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps" but did not eliminate the requirements for standardized testing (US Department of Education, n.d.). To learn more, visit the following link: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn.