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Connecticut Asylum
Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens in Hartford, Connecticut. -
Period: to
From then until 2010
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Perkins Institution
Perkins Institution for the Blind opened by Samuel Gridley Howe. -
Braille
Braille code is first published. -
Experimental school
Dr. Howe establishes experimental school for feebleminded youth in Massachusetts. -
House for the Blind
American Printing House for the Blind is established. -
Deaf Mute College
National Deaf Mute College is established, later to be renamed Gallaudet University. -
Special Education
Formal training for teachers of blind persons begins at Columbia University; Alexander Graham Bell introduces the term special education -
College-level training
College-level training for teachers of students with intellectual disabilities begins. -
IQ testing
Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon publish their intelligence test, the basis for modern IQ testing. -
Segregated classes
Segregated classes in the public schools are established as viable alternatives to instructing children with disabilities; the term emotional disturbance comes into use. -
Mentally Retarded & Gifted
The term mentally retarded is introduced; the term gifted appears in the professional literature. -
Exceptional Children
Council for Exceptional Children is founded. -
Autism
Leo Kanner identifies the characteristics of children with autism. -
Asperger syndrome
Dr. Hans Asperger identifies children with characteristics that later would come to be called Asperger syndrome. -
Willowbrook State School
Willowbrook State School (NY) opened as a facility for children with intellectual disabilities. After medical scandals and an expose about its horrible conditions, it was closed in 1987 -
No more segregated classrooms
U.S. Supreme Court hands down decision in Brown v. Board of Education. -
Learning Disabilities
Samuel A. Kirk introduces the term learning disabilities. -
Christmas in Purgatory
B. Blatt and F. Kaplan publish Christmas in Purgatory, a photographic expose of life in institutions for those with intellectual disabilities. The widespread publicity it received led to significant changes in law and policy. -
Funding - Title VI
Congress provides funding to disseminate best practices for special education by adding Title VI to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. -
Amendments
P.L. 94-142, amendments to the 1974 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), is enacted. -
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is enacted; EAHCA is amended and renamed the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). -
IDEA
IDEA is amended, adding provisions related to transition services, participation by general education teachers, and discipline. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind Act increases accountability for outcomes for all students and requires that they are taught by highly qualified teachers. -
Highly Qualified
Reauthorization of IDEA raises standards for quality instruction for students with disabilities, elaborates on parent involvement and discipline, and defines highly qualified for special education teachers. -
Rosa's Law
President Obama signs Rosa's Law which changes federal language usage from mental retardation to intellectual disability.
