Timeline of Special Education

By CrystalMock1

  • 1817

    Connecticut Asylum for education and instruction of Deaf & Dumb Persons open in Hartford,Connecticut.

  • 1832

    Perkins Institution for Blind opened by Samuel Gridley

  • 1834

    Braille code is first published

  • 1848

    Howe established experimental school foe feeble-minded youth

  • 1858

    American Printing House for Blind is established

  • 1884

    Formal training for teachers of blind at Columbia University: Alexander Graham Bell introduced the term 'special education'

  • 1898

    College-level training for teachers of students with intellectual disabilities begin

  • 1905

    Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon publish their intelligence test, the basis for modern IQ testing

  • 1910

    Segregated classes in the public schools are established as viable alternatives to instructing children with disabilities; the term "emotionally disturbed" comes into use.

  • 1920

    The term "mentally retarded' is introduced. The term 'gifted' appears in the professional literature.

  • 1922

    Council for exceptional children is founded

  • 1944

    Dr. Hans Asperger identifies children with characteristics that later would come to be called 'Asperger Syndrome'

  • 1947

    Willowbrook State School (NY) opened as a facility for children with intellectual disabilities. After medical scandals an expose about its horrible conditions, it was closed in 1987

  • 1954

    U.S. Supreme Court hands down decision in Brown v. Board of Education

  • 1963

    Samuel A. Kirk introduces the term 'learning disability'

  • 1967

    Congress provides funding to disseminate best practices for special education by adding Title VI to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)

  • 1990

    Americans with Disabilities Act is enacted; EAHCA is amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

  • 1997

    IDEA is amended, adding provisions related to transition services, participation by general education teachers, and discipline

  • 2003

    No Child Left Behind Act increases accountability for outcomes for all students and requires that they are taught by highly qualified teachers

  • 2004

    Re-authorization of IDEA raises standards for quality instruction for students with disabilities, elaborates on parents involvements and discipline, and defines 'highly qualified' for special education teachers

  • 2010

    President Obama signs Rosa's Law, which changes federal language usage from 'mental retardation' to 'intellectual disability'