The History of Special Education
This is a look into special education from the 1880's to present.
The PastPeople who had a disability were seen as mentally ill. Many of them were placed in Mental intuitions called Insane Aslyms and were being "cured". They were treated in very inhumane ways making life expectancy short for many.
The Civil Rights moment inspired the Disability Rights Movement. This movement was to get rights for physical barriers such as wheelchair lifts, curb cuts, buses and ramps. This movement was also started to eliminate labels and stereotypes associated with people with disabilities. This overnight In 1940 parent organizations formed for the right to educate children with disabilities. The American Disabilities Act (ADA) came out of this movement in the 20th Century for right for disabled people to work.
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How did special Education move forward?
1975: Education for all Handicapped
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Present and Future of Special Education
After IDEA was passed there was more push for inclusion in public schools. The idea of inclusion is that special education students can be in regular education schools and not segregated. Inclusion also means the teacher and school are doing everything in their power to make sure that the student is fully included. The picture on the left is of how inclusion classrooms can be set up to provide equal education in a classroom. This was found at www.ample.org Check out how Inclusion works for all students from The Henderson Inclusion School in Boston, Massachusetts. |
Gifted and talented is now part special education and is growing in numbers. However, for future need, schools need to seek out children who are advance in poverty districts and students of color. Some schools have made efforts to put students with learning disabilities in gifted and talented programs.
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