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American School for the Deaf
The American School for the Deaf was founded April 15, 1817, in West Hartford, Connecticut, by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Dr. Mason Cogswell, and Laurent Clerc. It was the first school in the Western Hemisphere to be created to support children with disabilities. It is one of the oldest schools for deaf children in the US and the first school for children with disabilities. This school helped pave the way towards education that is modified and accommodated for children with special needs. -
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University was the first college in the world created for people with disabilities. The institution is for deaf and blind students and is able to offer college degrees. US congress approved their conferral of degrees in 1864. This university was it first of its kind to offer higher educational opportunities for students with disabilities. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson is a landmark supreme court case that established separate but equal. Separate but equal was meant to uphold and made it legal for racial segregation to occur in public facilities such as schools as long as the facilities were equal. This impacted education as separate but equal forced schools to be separated and typically schools for minorities were not equal and lacked funding and resources. -
Council for Exceptional Children
This council was the first advocacy group created to support children with special needs. This organization is one of the largest groups in the nation. The focus of this group is to ensure that children with special needs are receiving FAPE. They provide resources for families so that they can understand the special education process. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Landmark supreme court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. The notion of separate but equal was no longer in existence and public schools could no longer be segregated. This paved the way to ensure equal access to public education was awarded to all students. -
Section 504
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act gives protections to individuals with special needs or disabilities as it does not allow for discrimination based on those factors. This law created things such as FAPE and LRE. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
This act was passed to ensure that students with special needs or disabilities are educated in public schools. It allowed free public education for the students ages 3-12, supplemental services, due process, and LRE. -
Handicapped Children’s Protection Act
This act was signed by Ronal Regan in 1986. It paved the way for parents to have more involvement, choice, and say in their childs education, and IEP. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act was signed into law by President George W. Bush. This law allows children with disabilities will have the saw rights as others. This extends to school settings. It also ensures that they are not to be discriminated against in schools, the workplace, and any other public setting. ADA website -
IDEA
This act was signed into law by George W. Bush. This law has 6 different sections, FAPE, LRE, IEP, parent and student participation, and procedures and rights for participants. It is meant to provide free appropriate public education to children who have disabilities. IDEA video