-
American School for the Deaf opens
This school was the first school to open specifically for children with disabilities in the Western Hemisphere -
Perkins Institution for the Blind opens
This institution in Boston Massachusetts was the first of its kind for people with mental disabilities because it operated like a boarding school, requiring its participants to live and learn there. -
Rhode Island mandates Compulsory Education
Rhode Island passed a law that mandated compulsory education for all children, meaning that it was required by law for children to receive an education that the government provided. -
Columbia Institution awards degrees
The Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Blind was allowed to grant college degrees by the U.S. Congress. It was the first college in the world established for people with disabilities. -
The White House Conference on Children
The White House Conference on Children was an attempt to bring more national attention to the issue of educating children with disabilities. As attitudes toward disabled children began to shift, more thought was given to educating these children in schools, rather than institutionalizing them. -
Beattie v Board of Education
In this case the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a ruling that children with disabilities could be excluded from school based on their appearance. The school district claimed that the child created a disruptive classroom environment and required too much of the teachers attention. -
Council for Exceptional Children founded
The CEC was organized by a group of educators attending the summer session at Columbia University. The CEC is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talent by advocating for appropriate government policies, setting professional standards, providing professional development, and helping professionals obtain resources necessary for effective professional practice. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
This case ruled in favor of students with disabilities by stating that no child, regardless of their disability, could be turned down by the Commonwealth to the access of free public trainings and educational programs. The quality of the education and training given to the children with disabilities had to match that of the education and training given to general students. -
Mills v Board of Education
The court ruled that students with disabilities must be given a public education even if the students are unable to pay for the cost of the education. The case established that all children are entitled to free public education and training appropriate to their learning capacities. -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act passed
This piece of legislation prohibited discrimination on the basis of a person's disability within any program that received government funding. -
P.L. 93-380 - Education Amendments of 1974
This legislation provided funding for programs, instructions for due process procedures, and addressed the concept of least restrictive environment for disabled students. P.L. 93-380 was also the first piece of legislation to address meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. Despite an increased effort to pass laws, teachers remained largely untrained for working with students with disabilities. -
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) provided funding to states to develop and implement programs for disabled children in schools. This law was made to further protect the rights of students with disabilities. -
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This law was established by President George W. Bush in 1990 stating that people with special needs are guaranteed equal rights and cannot be discriminated against in their workplace, school, or any public spaces. -
My first memory of classmates with special needs
My memory of seeing people with special needs at school is limited to the times I would see the class of children with special needs walking through the halls or leaving the cafeteria before the other classes came to lunch. The students with more prominent special needs were kept in separate classes, and students with less severe disabilities were kept in general education classes but were pulled out for tutoring or other special services such as speech therapy. -
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Passed by Congress in 2004, this law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children. -
Working with children with special needs
When I got my first preschool teaching job, I began to work with students who had been diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. Over the years I have worked with many children with disabilities in preschool settings that are either diagnosed or in the process of being observed and assessed by behavioral specialists. -
Every Student Succeeds Act
In the law, Congress states: "Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities". -
Specialist speaks at staff meeting
While I was working at The Children's School, our director invited a behavioral specialist to come inform us more about children with behavioral issues and special needs, as well as to provide us with some tips and teaching strategies for how to work more effectively with children with special needs. -
My first course in Special Education
Though I had been in the Early Childhood Studies program for about three years at this point and had worked with children with special needs, I took my first course on Young Children with Special Needs in Spring of 2017. I spent hours observing preschool students with special needs at Peek-a-Boo Playhouse and learned how to work to accommodate for the needs of children with special needs within my classroom environment. -
Working on assessments and IEPs with behavioral specialists
This year was the first year I was involved in answering assessments on children in my class and working with behavioral specialists and parents of the children being assessed to see how we can best meet their needs and enrich their preschool learning experience as well as their physical development and socialization. I have had several one-on-one aids come into my classroom to work with my students.