Timeline of Special Education

By Virginia Altman

  • American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb

    Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet becomes principal of the American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, the first residential school in the U.S

  • New England Asylum for the Blind

    Samuel Gridley Howe establishes the New England Asylum for the Blind

  • Braille

    Braille
    Louis Braille publishes the Braille code

  • First Teacher Training

    Massachusetts holds the first teacher training program.

  • Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble Minded Children

    Samuel Gridley Howe establishes the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble Minded Children

  • Columbia Institution

    Columbia Institution
    The U.S. Congress authorized the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind to confer college degrees, and President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law.

  • The first professional association concerned with disabilities began

    Edouard Seguin helps to organize the predecessor to today’s American Association on Mental Retardation. This was the first professional association concerned with disabilities (mental retardation).

  • National Education Association

    National Education Association establishes a section for teachers of children with disabilities

  • Elizabeth Farrell begins a program

    1898 – Elizabeth Farrell begins a program for “backwards” or “slow learning” children in New York City.

  • Council for Exceptional Children

    The Council for Exceptional Children was founded by Ferrell and other teachers. It developed special education as a profession

  • The Virginia Sterilization Act

    The Virginia Sterilization Act of 1924 provided for compulsory sterilization of persons deemed to be "feebleminded," including the "insane, idiotic, imbecile, or epileptic." This Sterilization Act was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200 (1927)

  • Social Security Act

    The Social Security Act became U.S. law; it provided federally funded old-age benefits and funds to states for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children. The Act also extended existing vocational rehabilitation programs

  • Association for Retarded Children (ARC)

    Association for Retarded Children (ARC) is founded (known today as the Association for Retarded Citizens, or simply the Arc)

  • Parent Organization Group

    The Parents Organization Group- began to provide support, information, and structure for obtaining resources to parents of children with disabilities.

  • Federal support for training teachers

    PL 85-926, which provided federal support for training teachers for children with mental retardation, became law in the U.S

  • Association for Children with Learning Disabilities

    Association for Children with Learning Disabilities is organized.

  • Special Olympics was founded

    Special Olympics was founded
    Special Olympics was founded by Eunice Shriver. It is now the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries.

  • Vocational Rehabilitation Act

    Public Law 93-112, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is enacted; Section 504 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities

  • Education for All Handicapped Children Act

    Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) is passed; landmark legislation ensures, among other provisions, a free and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities.

  • Education of the Handicapped Act Amendment

    Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (PL 99-457) is enacted; mandates a special education for pre-schoolers with disabilities and incentives for providing early intervention services to infants and toddlers

  • IDEA

    The Individualist with Disabilities Education Act PL 10-476 (IDEA) is passed; among other provisions, emphasizes transition planning for adolescents with disabilities.

  • Americans with Disabilities Act

    Americans with Disabilities Act (PL 101-336) becomes law it prohibits the discrimination of a person basis on a disability.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is reauthorized

    Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (PL 105-117) is reauthorized, providing a major retooling and expansion of services for students with disabilities and their families

  • No Child Left Behind

    NO Child Left Behind (NCLB) is established as a "Standards-based" reform, with consequences to special education. NCLB states that all students including those with disabilities should be proficient in math and reading by the year 2014.

  • American Recovery and Restatement Act

    American Recovery and Restatement Act
    President Barack Obama, signs the bill "funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act"

  • IDEA reauthorized

    IDEA is reauthorized to include that students with disabilities are required to be included on state and district-wide assessments and regular education teachers are to be included on the individualized educational planing team.