History of Emotional & Behavioral Disabilities

By hughes@hsaswchicago.org
  • 427 BCE

    "The Republic" by Plato

    Plato wrote that goodness, truth, and beauty were related to each other. Deviations from the norm were errors related to evil and ugliness. He also suggested that those that are born defective be hidden away.
  • 400 BCE

    Hippocrates

    Greek physician who recorded detailed descriptions of abnormal states that he designated as melancholia, mania (hysteria), and phrentis (brain fever). Hippocrates inaugurated a medical approach to understanding maladaptive behavior and made the study of a mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders the concerns of physicians.
  • 4 BCE

    Amusement Purposes

    People with disabilities became popular sources of amusement in wealthy households.
  • 200

    Hospitals for People with Disabilities

    People with disabilities were confined to hospitals with the belief that deprivation of light, food, and water would be therapeutic.
  • 1547

    St. Mary of Bethlehem Asylum

    First asylum or madhouse in London. Many others were established in the 17th century. Patients were shackled and chained to walls, undernourished, excreted on themselves, and at times, members of the public were permitted to "view the animals." The patients were not cleaned, fed, or taken care of appropriately.
  • 1550

    "The Deception of Demons"

    A book published by German physician, Johann Weyer that debunked "witch hunts" in the 16th century and argued that these so-called witches were actually mentally ill individuals.

  • "Moral Treatment Approach" coined

    French physician Philippe Pinel famously unchained mental patients and advocated for more humane practices. Pinel also wrote a book "The Wild Boy of Averyon" that recorded his efforts to educate a boy who had been found in a forest. This work paved the way to establishing teaching as an important part of treatment.

  • Mental Hygiene Movement

    Dorthea Dix established that EBDs were illnesses of the mind and gained public support and funding for mental hospitals. This caused physicians to pay attention to behaviors and develop psychiatric treatment programs.

  • Scientific Method Applied to Study of Behavior

    William Wundt created the first experimental psychology lab at University of Leipzig. This was later applied all over the world, including the United States.

  • First Intelligence Test Developed

    The first modern intelligence test in IQ history was developed in 1904, by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon. This assessment allowed for professionals to identify children from normally intelligent, but lazy children. By 1905, the test would be called "Stanford Binet Intelligence Test."

  • Juvenile Psychopathic Institute Founded

    Dr. WIlliam Healy lead the movement of turning attention to helping children who engaged in antisocial or criminal behavior.

  • "Therapeutic Milieu" Principles

    Guidelines for working with seriously disturbed and aggressive therapy created by Bruno Bettelhein and Fritz Redl.

  • "Psychopathology and Education of the Brain-Injured Child" is published

    Alfred Strauss and Laura Lehtinen published this work that identifies the characteristics that interferes with children's ability to learn. Such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, tracitibilty and volatility. This text laid the framework for future the structured class model.

  • Harry Stack Sullivan's Research

    This research focused on sociology and social psychology that emphasized the importance of various cultural forces on behavior and continued the research into genetic and biochemical causes of EBDs.

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Prohibited segregation in public schools on the basis of race, which paved the way for students with disabilities to receive the same rights.

  • "The Disturbed Child" Released

    Written by Pearl Berkowitz and Esther Rothman, this text advocated for a modified psychoanalytic approach to the instruction of emotionally disturbed children.

  • P.L. 88-164

    Congress added serious emotionally disturbed as a separate disability category.

  • Council for Children Behavioral Disorders Founded

    This is a division of the Council for Exceptional Children created in 1922.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    P.L. 89-10 Provided federal funding to assist states in educating students as part of the war on poverty.

  • Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia

    Ruled that because segregation by race was illegal in public schools, it was also unconstitutional to deprive students with disabilities from receiving education. Prior to this case, students with behavior problems were excluded from school without due process of the law.

  • PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    Required the State of Pennsylvania to provide students with mental retardation with a free and appropriate education.

  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

    Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance. Section 504 included children with "social maladjustment."

  • Education for all Handicapped Children Act

    Also known as PL 94-142 provides funding to the states to assist them in providing an appropriate education, consisting of special education and related services, to students with disabilities.

  • Term "Emotional & Behavioral Disorders Adopted

    National Mental Health & Special Education Coalition attempted to bring unity to the field by adopting a new term to describe individual whose behavior seemed strange, odd, or vastly different from that of other people.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Act

    Serious Emotional Disturbance is one of the 13 IDEA categories. . Mandates that students with disabilities be educated in their least restrictive environment. IDEA also required that students with disabilities receive related services (social work, behavior therapy). IDEA included specific initiatives for students with EBD including culturally and ethnically diverse programs, increasing parent advocacy, and increased collaboration with LEAS.

  • Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

    OSERS created four goals specific to students with EBD : provide qualified personnel, develop capacity to meet the needs of changing student populations, expand inclusion of EBDS in general education classes, and identify measures to monitor progress.

  • IDEA Amendments of 1997

    Changed the terminology of "serious emotional disorder" to "emotional disturbance." To deal with behavior problems, IEP teams were required to complete an FBA and write and implement a BIP. School suspensions for students with disabilities could not exceed 10 days. If a change of placement for a student with disabilities is sought, an MDR hearing must occur first to determine if the behavior was a manifestation of the child's disability.

  • No Child Left Behind Act

    NCLB increased the role of the Federal government in education by requiring states to develop standards, develop statewide assessments, report assessment data, disaggregate data for subgroups, and implement school accountability measures known as AYP.

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act

    Aligned IDEA with ESSA and clarified discipling students in special education.

  • Illinois Senate Bill 100

    SB 100 eliminates “zero-tolerance” polices and provides that the harshest forms of punishment may only be used
    for students who pose a threat to the school community or who substantially disrupt, impede or interfere with
    the learning environment.

  • Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

    ESSA reauthorized NCLB and removed some of the punative sanctions, while still ensuring public schools were accountable for achieving important learning goals. ESSA also allowed for students with disabilities who take the state alternative assessment and still be counted in the school's graduation rate.

  • The Illinois Administrative Code (23 IAC 1.285) Physical Restraint and Time Out

    Isolated time out, time out, and physical restraint, as defined in this can only be used only when the student's behavior presents an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others and other less restrictive have been tried and proven ineffective in stopping the imminent danger of serious physical harm. When used, a report must be submitted to ISBE within 24 hours of the incident. Districts must maintain and keep data regarding these incidents.