History of Special Education

Throughout the ages, people with disabilities have been hidden away at homes or institutions and were often not educated. This was common practice and as such, when the education system was designed, children with disabilities were not even considered. Then, starting soon after the civil rights movement in the 50’s, a series of lawsuits was brought against school boards and the federal government took notice. Then the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was passed and these children were finally allowed the education they deserved. As time went

The right of entry to education resources is more than uncomplicated admission to a college. The right to use means to provide students with the devices they will need to be victorious in higher learning. Students with a recognized disability ought to be no omission. In reality, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “ensure that all qualified persons have equal access to education regardless of the presence of any disability.” Objective replacement, class waivers, and revision of classroom management, testing and course necessities are all illustrations of behavior to supply access for the learner with a disability. A break down to the creation of such practical adjustments can place schools in breach of federal and state statutes, ensuing expensive fines.

In the early 1970’s parents of students with disabilities went to federal court when their local school districts did not provide services to meet their children’s educational needs. In Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971), a Pennsylvania court ruled that all children, regardless of disability, have a basic right to an education under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972), a federal court ruled that the District of Columbia schools could not exclude children with disabilities from the public schools. Cases like this focused public attention on the issue of educating children with disabilities. The social and political pressure then resulted in landmark federal legislation to address the educational rights of these children.

Special education has changed in many different ways throughout the last century. The views of they way students with differences should be taught and treated have changed as people have become more open minded. The education laws have also seen a turn about. One major area of education was in a desperate need of changed opinions and beliefs.

There have been several reforms in the past 100 years that have had an influential effect on policy in special education. Some of these changes have left a positive legacy for future education legislators to build from while others have been detrimental to a student’s educational success. All having positive and negative outcomes, some of these changes impacting education include the National Institute of Child and Human Development, Education for All Handicapped Children Act, No Child Left Behind Act, and Individuals with Disabilities Act. The reforms listed above will be discussed

Legislation assisting students with disabilities (SWD) with equal opportunities in education and training has been progressive. Legislative mandates underpinning CTE and inclusion of students with special education needs has occurred in rapid succession since the 1950’s. There are several key legislative directives, which bolster the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWD) in career and technical education (CTE). In 1975, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, together with the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), the Rehabilitation Act (1973) and Section 504, prohibit discrimination based on disability, and require equal access for all students in programs that are federally funded. Furthermore, the Perkins Act (1998) requires that individuals with disabilities receive equal access to all vocational education endeavors supported by federal financial assistance and bars discriminatory practices based on ability (Ordover and Annexstein,

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 required all schools receiving federal funding to provide handicapped students with equal access to a public education and at least one free meal per school day. This act was designed to protect state and local personnel’s rights, when attempting to meet the individual needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families. It became known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. It allows parents of children with mental and/or physical disabilities to have a say so in their child(ren)’s education process.

According to Hanson & Lynch (2013), The ADA (American with Disabilities Act) of 1990 is a landmark piece of legislation with implications for access and education for children with disabilities. This civil rights law ensures that individuals with disabilities are protected and also have access to all entities like those provided to people on the basis of sex, race, religion, and nationality. IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) provides the framework for educational policies and services for children with disabilities via six principles. These principles entail free and appropriate public education, appropriate evaluation, development of an individualized education program for each child, educated provided in the least restrictive environment, parent involvement in decision-making, and procedural safeguards to protect the rights of parents and their child with a disability (Hanson & Lynch, 2013). IDEA has provided an exceptional prospect in the United States to launch a unified service delivery system to address the multifaceted needs of children with disabilities and their families. Moreover, a child’s individualized needs and goals and the active inclusion and participation of their caregivers are at the core of policies and procedures.

In order to protect the rights of children with disabilities there have been many legislative acts since the 1960’s. One of these is the American with Disabilities Act which was passed in 1990 in an attempt to provide equal opportunities to people with disabilities (American, 2010). Children with disabilities are guaranteed the same access to education as children who do not have disabilities thanks to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Motwani, 2007). Under IDEA, students can get the early intervention and special education services that they need in order to be successful in school (Motwani, 2007). Also, children will receive a “free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE)” (Wright

Almost thirty years later and another student who had cerebral palsy was rejected schooling due to “[producing] a depressing and nauseating effect” he gave to both students and teachers (Esteves & Rao).

If everyone stood up to be a voice for those who are silenced, like sunlight burning through darkness, could those who are lame begin to take a stand? Could the blind begin see the change within this world? Could the deaf suddenly hear victory ringing around them? Prior to the 1970’s, few to no disabled students were educated in public schools because their needs that required extensive care were unable to be addressed by school faculty. In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed. This act requires public schools to allow students the right to education, regardless of their disability. Special Education provides access to education to children with intellectual and physical disabilities. Services are divided into categories based on the disabilities of the child.. These include: Traumatic Brain Injury,multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, speech impairment, hearing impairment, visual impairment, intellectual impairment, and developmental. delays. After children are eligible for services, an Individualized Education Plan, mandated by the IDEA, is established. Within this plan , there are objectives and goals of which the parents and Special Education teachers decide where the child is weak and what they need help accomplishing. Physical therapists, Occupational therapists,and Adapted Physical Education teachers provide total assistance to

Chapter four in our text Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, stresses the positive effects early intervention has on children with disabilities. IDEA requires all children with disabilities to receive a free appropriate education. Though this law is in place it did not always encompass children below school age. “Since 1974, Congress has enacted five bills reauthorizing amending the original IDEA. The second of those bills, PL 99-457, has been called the most important legislation ever enacted for young children with developmental delays (Shonkoff & Meisels, 2000)(p. 499).”. Preschool services are now required to provide schooling for children age’s three to five. Additionally a grant program has been put in place to provide early intervention services for infants, toddler and their families.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which originally began as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EHA), was created to ensure a free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities. This policy was implemented in an effort to provide equal access to education for all. Prior to 1975, the needs of children with disabilities were highly overlooked. According to the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (2010), “U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students from school, including children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or mentally retarded.” The discrimination and lack of educational rights of children with disabilities was a vast social problem and detrimental to the lives and worth of children with disabilities and their families. The EHA’s name was officially changed to IDEA in 1990, and throughout the years, there have been many more improvements and amendments made to the policy, the latest amendment being in 2004. Some of the main requirements of the IDEA are for schools to focus on specialized individual educational needs of children, through the use of Individualized Education Programs (IEP), and placing children in a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) when possible where they can be included with non-disabled classmates. The IDEA also requires transition assistance from high school to

There has been great progress has been made toward meeting goals for developing and implementing effective programs and services for early intervention, special education, and alike services. AT the beginning before IDEA, many children were allowed access to education and opportunities to learn. Looking at 1970, united State schools educated only a few children with disabilities, and many states had laws left certain students out. Other accomplishments exactly reasoned to IDEA include educating more children in their neighborhood schools, rather than in separate schools and institutions. Here are some ways IDEA has made that was very helpful. The majority of children with disabilities are now being educated in their neighborhood schools in regular classrooms with their non-disabled peers. High school graduation rates and employment rates among youth with disabilities have

Since the establishment of the division for the deaf and dumb at Columbia University in 1864. American Higher education has been influenced and responsive to changes in federal civil rights protections for students with disabilities while facing both internal and external pressures on how to deal with persons with disabilities. The establishment of students with disabilities in an American higher education context found its start with the admission of students with sensory disabilities, primarily deaf and blind students. Changes because of the world wars poured federal funding into programs to assist veterans with acquired disabilities return to the workforce. The rise of the disability rights movement resulted in the passage of federal protects that mandate the creation of disability support services and bared institutional discrimination at all institutions. These changes saw students with disabilities and the services to support them move from marginalized, and often experimental, into the mainstream of student affairs and higher education.