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SPED History Timeline

  • Period: 1500 to

    Societal Views 1500

    People with disabilities were viewed as a kind of entertainment. Many times they would be court jesters. Epileptics were thought to be able to receive word from God while having a seizure.

    http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/pplfrst/Untitled1.html
  • Period: to

    Societal Views 1600

    This is an especially dark time for the disabled. They would be put away and often time chained up to the wall. Epileptic people were now confined to themselves so they did not spread their disease to others. By the late 1600's attitude toward these people started to improve.
    http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/pplfrst/Untitled1.html
  • Period: to

    Societal Views 1700

    Disabled people were still a form of entertainment during this time. While medicine and treatments were advancing, to pay for the treatments hospitals would charge an entry fee so the public could see the mentally ill. The people were still chained up and mistreated during the 1700's. http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/pplfrst/Untitled1.html
  • Period: to

    Teaching Techniques: 1700

    Education was a privileged thing and for the upper class students, they were taught from mainly three books. These books consisted of the Bible, a hornbook, and a primer. The older students would be prepped more for life. Many times the boys would go on learning, but the girls would be taught for a domestic lifestyle. Dunce caps, whispering sticks, and nose pinchers were used to instill good behavior.
    https://www.stratfordhall.org/educational-resources/teacher-resources/colonial-education/
  • Period: to

    Teaching Techniques: 1800

    Common Schools were becoming more popular during this time. These schools were funded by the taxes, so children of many different backgrounds were placed together. Along with the normal curriculum, politics were taught in these schools. The teachers wanted to instill how to be a productive democratic citizen in the children. Specialized schools for special need students did become more popular during this time.
    https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/timeline.html
  • Period: to

    Societal Views 1800's

    Asylums were made to house people with disabilities, and often times they would stay their entire life. The people were locked away and many times still mistreated and abused. However, the use of chains did stop during the 1800's.There were even laws that forced institutionalization and sometimes sterilization to the disabled.
    http://actionforaccess.mohistory.org/early_movement.php
    http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/pplfrst/Untitled1.html
  • American School for the Deaf

    American School for the Deaf
    In Hartford, Connecticut the first school opened for students with disabilities. Unfortunately, the teachers were not equipped to teach the deaf students. The founder, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, went to Europe, where the education was more advanced" to look for adequate teachers. He recruited Laurent Clerc. It was a state supported school. https://www.ctmq.org/oldest-school-etc-for-deaf-in-us/
  • Perkins School for the Blind

    Perkins School for the Blind
    The first director of the school,Samuel Gridley Howe, strived to instill independency on the students. He taught them to see the world around them through the touch of fingertips. Because there were few books for the blind, he perfected brail.
    https://www.perkins.org/history/legacy/deafblind
  • Period: to

    Societal Views 1900

    In the early 1900's the sterilization of special needs people was still practiced. By the mid 1900's advocates started fighting for equal rights. This trend took off in the 1970's where many of the acts and laws originated from.
    https://www.alleducationschools.com/blog/history-of-special-education/
  • Period: to

    Teaching Techniques 1900

    Advocacy groups pushed for equal education during the 1900's, mainly after the 1930's. From allowing the special needs students to go to a different classroom to learn, to including them in the main classroom special education has came a long ways in a short amount of time.
  • NARC: National Association of Retarded Children

    NARC:  National Association of Retarded Children
    This was one of the first steps to stop the institutionalization of special needs children. Instead the NARC advocated for raising the children at home.
  • Brown Vs. Board of Education

    Brown Vs. Board of Education
    In Topeka Kansas, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unethical and unconstitutional to segregate the students according to their ethnicity.
    https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/idea-timeline
  • ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
    Also known for "quality and quantity", the ESEA provided additional resources and funding to the special needs children. This included books, special education centers, and even some scholar ships.
    https://blog.ed.gov/2015/04/what-is-esea/
  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
    This act is the first to protect the disabled with federally financial assistance to be discriminated against. The act works with IDEA and ADA to protect all disabled people in school, workplace and the community.
    https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/laws/section-504-of-the-rehabilitation-act-of-1973/
  • IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    This act ensures that children with disabilities are given a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The act was passed in 1975, but additions were added in 1990, 1997 and again in 2004. This act protects the rights to the same education for special needs children.
    https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-individuals-disabilities-education-act
  • EACHA/ EHA:Education For All Handicapped Children Act

    EACHA/ EHA:Education For All Handicapped Children Act
    This act made it law that all public schools would have to provide equal education to students with mental or physical handicaps. Students would be evaluated and a education plan would be assigned to each student.
    https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6
  • HCPA: Handicapped Children Protection Act

    HCPA: Handicapped Children Protection Act
    This Act builds on EACHA. The HCPA includes children before they reach school age, five years old, and provides aid before the children go to school. They have Early Intervention Programs that are accessible, and an individualized plan is given as young as infancy.
    https://www.craftlegal.com/2016/11/08/handicapped-childrens-protection-act/
  • ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act

    ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act
    A civil rights law, it ensures that disabled people are given the same opportunities as a non disabled person.
    https://adata.org/learn-about-ada
  • Period: to

    Societal View 2000

    Society understands special needs differently then they did in the past. While many of the disabilities are still misunderstood and the cause is unknown, society does not try to outcast those people like they did in the past.
  • Period: to

    Teaching Techniques: 2000

    Inclusion is widely used in the schools. No Child Left Behind made schools more accountable for special needs students. Basic rights for these students are given.
    https://www.alleducationschools.com/blog/history-of-special-education/
  • NCLB: No Child Left Behind Act

    NCLB: No Child Left Behind Act
    https://blog.ed.gov/2015/04/what-is-esea/
    The NCLB act reauthorized the ESEA, and emphasized the importance of closing educational gaps. This would help all students achieve a equal education.
  • Autism Speaks

    Autism Speaks
    Three existing organizations, Autism Coalition for Research and Education, National Alliance for Autism Research, and Cure Autism Now, merged to form Autism Speaks. It is leading research in treatments and causes of autism. https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us
  • Video: The History of Special Education

    Video: The History of Special Education