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Conneticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons
Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, the first permanent school for deaf Americans, opened on April 15, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut. At that time, "dumb" meant only "unable to speak" (as we still sometimes refer to someone being "dumbstruck") but in early America almost all those who were born deaf never learned to communicate with others except by home-made signs, and deaf people were often regarded as cognitively impaired as well. -
Compulsory Attendance Law
Compulsory attendance laws are crafted by each state to require school attendance for children of certain ages. Five states require students to begin school at age 5, 32 mandate school attendance at age 6, and a small number allow children to wait until reaching 8 years old. Education is not mentioned in the Constitution, states are individually responsible for the education of their children. Massachusetts was the first state to enact Compulsory Attendance shortly followed by Vermont. -
Compulsory Attendance Law 1852
The term compulsory attendance refers to state legislative mandates for attendance in public schools (or authorized alternatives) by children within certain age ranges for specific periods of time within the year. Components of compulsory attendance laws include admission and exit ages, length of the school year, enrollment requirements, alternatives, waivers and exemptions, enforcement, and truancy provisions. -
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
The Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. The International Council for the Education of Exceptional Children is organized by a group of administrators and supervisors attending the summer session at Teachers College, Columbia University, and their faculty members on August 10, 1922. -
Cuyahoga Council for Retarded Children
Five mothers of children with mental retardation banded together to protest the exclusion of their children from public education. Their protests resulted in the establishment for special classes for those children and were sponsored by the parents themselves. Between the 1930s and 1950s several organizations began advocating to make changes to the law on behalf of the children. This advocacy movement was instrumental in developing special education services. -
National Association for Reatrded Children
The National Association for Retarded Citizens was founded in 1950 as the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children. The Arc's mission was to provide information to concerned individuals, monitor the quality of services for individuals with mental retardation and advocate for the rights and interests of individuals with mental retardation. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A major victory for the civil rights movement, Brown declared that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” the Brown v. Board decision helped break the back of state-sponsored segregation, and provided a spark to the American civil rights movement. This case brought forth the notion that the equal protection doctrine was extended to classes of people such as racial minorities. Advocates for special needs claimed children with disabilities have the same rights. -
The Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. -
The Education of The Handicapped Act of 1970
EHA is the framework that consolidated and expanded the previous federal grant programs. Congress intended that all children with disabilities “have a right to education, and to establish a process by which State and local educational agencies may be held accountable for providing educational services for all handicapped children.”
EHA was the first free standing special education law that mandated students with disabilities be educated and require students receive services needed to succeed. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC)
PARC was a class action law suit that dealt with the exclusion of children with mental retardation from public schools. The state was said to be delaying/ignoring their constitutional obligation to provide all students a proper education (Yell, 2013). In the subsequent settlement, it was agreed that educational placement decisions must include a process of parental participation and a means to resolve disputes. -
Mills v. Board of Education
Mills v. BOE was filed on behalf of all out of school students with disabilities. Mills was based off of the 14th amendment charging that the students were improperly excluded from schooling without due process of law. This case resulted in the school board being mandated to provide all children with disabilities a publicly supported education. It outlined the due process procedures for labeling, placement and exclusions of students with disabilities. (Yell, 2013) -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
This act was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance, and set the stage for enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It provides regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the individual student’s educational needs. -
The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps
Founded in 1975, TASH is an international leader in disability advocacy. TASH works for human rights and inclusion for people with significant disabilities and supports the needs of those most vulnerable to segregation, abuse, neglect and institutionalization. TASH works to advance inclusive communities through advocacy, research, professional development, policy, and information and resources for parents, families and self-advocates. -
Individuas with Disabilities Education Act
The law guaranteed access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) to every child with a disability. IDEA has led to an increased emphasis on access to the general education curriculum, the provision of services for young children from birth through five, transition planning, and accountability for the achievement of students with disabilities. (ed.gov/idea)