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1817 First Special Education School in the US
The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, the first permanent school for deaf Americans, opened on April 15, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut. At that time, "dumb" meant only "unable to speak" (as we still sometimes refer to someone being "dumbstruck") but in early America almost all those who were born deaf never learned to communicate with others except by home-made signs, and deaf people were often regarded as cognitively impaired as well. -
1886 The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is formed.
Since 1876, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) has been providing worldwide leadership in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. AAIDD, (formerly AAMR -- American Association on Mental Retardation) is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization of professionals and citizens concerned about intellectual and developmental disabilities. -
1870 The School for the Deaf and Blind is established
The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind were established by an Act of the Legislature on March 3, 1870. The School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind offer comprehensive educational programs for hearing impaired and visually impaired students respectively. There was also a unit for deafblind and multi-handicapped children. -
1918 Compulsory Education Act
In 1918, Mississippi was the last state to enact a compulsory attendance law. Now all states have established the Compulsory Education Act that began in Rhode Island in 1840 which requires all children between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend State School.
https://hslda.org/content/docs/nche/Issues/S/State_Compulsory_Attendance.asp -
1954 Brown VS. The Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education ruling laid the foundation for the 1975 federal law requiring access to a free appropriate public education for all children with disabilities. As the Court noted in Brown, “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” That statement was a stimulus for a civil rights movement that sought to integrate people with disabilities into every aspect of society.
https://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/the-meaning-of-brown-for-children-with-disabilities -
Public Law 94-142: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
On November 19, 1975, Congress enacted Public Law 94-142, also known as The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 . Congress intended that all children with disabilities would “have a right to education, and to establish a process by which State and local educational agencies may be held accountable for providing educational services for all handicapped children.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHKKFlAigM -
1990 Public Law 101-476
Public Law 101-476 called for significant changes to Public Law 94-142, or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and changing the name to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Traumatic brain injury and autism were added as new disability categories. Additionally, Congress mandated that as a part of a student’s IEP, an individual transition plan, or ITP, must be developed to help the student transition to post-secondary life. -
1997 Reauthorization of IDEA
Reauthorization of IDEA added ten changes to the previous law regarding discipline, participation in the general education curriculum and state assessments, transition planning, assistive technology, related services and structure of the IEP. This Act strengthened academic expectations and accountability for the nation's 5.8 million children with disabilities and bridged the gap that has existed between what children with disabilities learn and what is required in regular curriculum. -
2001 No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), is the name for the update to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It put a special focus on ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as English-language learners, students in special education, and poor and minority children, whose achievement, on average, trails their peers. It also states that students with disabilities cannot be excluded from school accountability systems. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
This law promotes accountability for results, enhances parent involvement, uses proven practices and materials, provides more flexibility, and reduces paperwork burdens for teachers, states and local school districts. It required schools to use research based interventions in the process of assisting students with learning difficulties, or determining eligibility for special education. Many schools have implemented Response to Intervention (RTI) as a method of meeting the new requirements. -
2015 statistics
As of 2015, about 5.9 million students in the U.S. received special education services under IDEA. Almost 39 percent of these students—roughly 2.3 million—qualified with a specific learning disability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3D-DKGMTeM
