DEBORAH LONGORIA

Psychology of Exceptional Children

Dr. Michael Wiebe

Texas Woman’s University

September 10, 2010

HISTORY OF THE EVENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

34 B.C to 2002 A.D.

34 B.C.

Imperial Rome was under the control of Augustus.

The deaf Quintus Pedius is taught to paint.

130 – 200A.D.

Galen offered medical treatment, much of it

founded on Hippocratic dictums.

4TH CENTURY A.D.

The rise of monasticism.

1st hospices are established for the blind.

384 A.D. Aristotle’s philosophy required the

derogatory view of exceptional persons.

533 A.D.*

The Code of Justinian.

Corpus Juris Civilis compiled all laws allowing or

denying rights and responsibilities to the different

grades of handicap.

Legal mandates describe and classify disabled

persons in great detail.

1247 A.D.

The 6th and 13th centuries saw the implementation

of asylums.

1247 – St Mary’s of Bethlehem was the first asylum

established in London.

1500 A.D.

Height of the Renaissance period.

Marginal improvements for handicapped persons

appear.

1550 A.D.

Gironimo Cardano develops the first form of

Braille.

1578 A.D.

Pedro Ponce de Leon undertakes the first

authenticated education of handicapped persons.

He worked in Benedictine monasteries in Spain

teaching the deaf children of wealthy families.

His was the first formal, systematic instruction of

the disabled.

1620 A.D.

Jean Pablo Bonet writes what is essentially the first

book on Special Education, Simplification of the

Letters of the Alphabet and a Method of Teaching

Deaf Mutes to Speak.

He continued DeLeon’s work .

1623 A. D.

Sir Kenelm Digby travels to Spain with King

Charles I. He meets Bonet’s student Luis de Valesco.

1630 A.D.

St. Vincent de Paul established the first men’s

asylum in Paris – Bicetre.

St. Vincent established the first women’s asylum in

Paris - Salpetriere.

1644 A.D.

Digby writes Treatise on the Nature of Bodies, a

recitation of DeLeon and Bonet’s work.

1662 A.D.

The Royal Society of London was established ,

receiving their charter.

The Society inspires philosophical inquiry into the

nature of language and the teaching of deaf – blind

individuals.

1676 A.D.

St. Mary’s of Bethlehem re-established after the

“Great Fire” in London.

1690 A.D.

John Locke publishes his essay, “An Essay

Concerning Human Understanding”.

1694 A.D.

John Conrad Ammon is the first to focus on speech

and language development. He believed speech was

the “only means for the expression of language”.

He wrote Surdus Loqueno (The Talking Deafman).

1700 A.D.*

Ammon publishes “Dissertatio de loquela”.

Legal mandates denied equal rights to disabled

citizens.

Theological canons excluded disabled persons from

church membership.

Mid 1700’s, Britain and Europe turned for the 1st

time to systematic instruction of disabled persons.

1720 A.D.

Daniel DeFoe writes The History of the Life and

Surprising Adventures of Mr. Duncan Campbell, an

expose’ of the problems of deaf people.

1749 A.D.

Denis Diderot publishes his study on blind people.

1760 A.D.

Abbe’ Charles Michel de l’Epee founds a school for

deaf persons in Paris.

1784 A.D.

Valentin Hauy establishes a school for the blind in

Paris.

1791 A.D.

The first British school for the blind opens.

1793 A.D.

Philippe Pinel intervenes in cases pertaining to the

insane at Bicetre.

1825 A.D.

Public hospitals for the insane are opened in

Britain.

1826 A.D.

G. M. A. Ferrus opens a school for the mentally

handicapped at Bicetre.

Winzer (1993)

1840 A. D. *

Rhode Island establishes compulsory education.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1841 A.D.

The first school for the mentally retarded opens in

Paris.

Winzer (1993)

1846 A.D.*

Britain opens it’s first public school for the

mentally retarded.

Massachusetts establishes compulsory schooling.

Childbook (2010)

1890 A.D.

Jean Pablo Bonet’s work translated into English and

popular in England.

Winzer (1993)

1918 A.D.*

All states within the United States mandate compulsory

education.

Although there are some laws in effect, disabled

children are routinely excluded from public school.

Pardine (2002); Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1922 A.D.

The Council for Exceptional Children is organized as a

major professional organization for Special Education

teachers.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1930 A.D.

Child guidance and counseling services begin.

1931 A.D.

Bradley Home was established as the first psychiatric

hospital for children in East Providence, Rhode Island.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1933 A.D.

Parents began to form Special Education advocacy

groups having a great effect on educational

legislation.

Pardine (2002)

1947 A.D.

The American Association on Mental Deficiency is

formed. They hold their first convention.

Learning RX (2010)

1950 A.D.

Special Education becomes an identifiable part of the

urban public school system in nearly every school district.

Also in the 1950’s the United Cerebral Palsy Association,

the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and John F. Kennedy’s

Panel on Mental Retardation are formed

The National Association for Retarded Citizens is formed.

It is later renamed ARC/USA.

Learning RX (2010); Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1951 A.D.

The first institute for research on exceptional children is

started at the University of Illinois.

The phrases “slow learner” and “learning disability” are

coined.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1954 A.D.*

Brown vs. the Board of Education confirms equal

protection under the law for minorities, effectively

providing the same protection for handicapped

individuals.

Pardine (2002)

1960 A.D.

Special Education instructors teach students in a

continuum of settings that include hospitals, schools,

specialized day schools, and special classes in public

schools.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1963 A.D.

The Association for Children with Learning

Disabilities established.

1964 A.D. *

The Civil Rights Act is specifically aimed at desegregating

schools.

Childbook (2010)

1965 A.D. *

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act

(ESEA) forms Head Start, establishes free lunches,

and special education mandates.

1971 A.D. *

The Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children

(PARC) files a class action law suit against the

Commonwealth. All children ages 6 through 21 are

provided free public education in the least restrictive

alternative.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1973 A.D. *

The Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination of

persons involved in programs receiving federal

financial assistance.

1975 A.D.*

On November 29th, the “Education for all Handicapped Children

Act (Public Law 94-142) is passed.

The law became effective in October 1977.

The law protected the rights of individuals needs and improving

the results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with

disabilities and their families. Individual Education Plans are

instituted.

The law became the foundation for federal funding of Special Ed.

Learning Rx (2010); Pardine (2002)

1980 A.D.

The Regular Education Institute (REI) attempts to

return responsibility of special education to

neighborhood schools.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1982 A.D. *

The Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson

Central School District vs. Rawley decision of the

Supreme Court clarified the level of services

afforded students with special needs. Services were

expected to provide “some benefit” to students.

1983 A.D. *

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act is

expanded to include parent training.

The law also established information centers at the

state level.

Learning Rx (2010)

1986 A.D.

Early intervention programs for infants and

educational services for pre-schoolers are added.

1990’S A.D. *

The Education for all Handicapped Children Act is re-named

IDEA and services are expanded.

IDEA requires public schools to provide free appropriate public

education for all children regardless of physical handicap;

mental retardation; speech, vision, or language problems;

emotional or behavioral problems; and other learning disorders.

“Least restrictive environment” is also mandated.

Learning Rx (2010); Pardine (2002)

1990’S A.D.

The 1990’s also included the full inclusion movement

seeking all education to be in the regular classroom

setting with a single, unified and responsive education

system.

Ackerman, Jaeger, Smith (2002)

1997 A.D. *

IDEA is re-authorized and kept in force.

Pardine (2002)

2002 A.D.*

President George Bush appoints a 21 member panel, The

President’s Commission on Excellence in Special

Education”. No teachers are included on the panel.

“No Child Left Behind” is instituted..

Pardine (2002); Childbook (2010)

* legislative and judicial events

REFERENCES

Ackerman, P., Jaeger, R., Smith, A. (2002) The History of Special Education.

Education Encyclopedia. Farmington Hills, Michigan, The Gale Group.

Major Events in American Education. www.childbook.com 2010, retrieved

09/0602010.

Pardine, Priscilla (Spring 2002) The History of Special Education.

Rethinking Schools, 16(3).

The History of Special Education – the Grassroots Advocacy.

www.learningrx.com 2010, retrieved 09/03/2010.

Winzer, Margret (1993) The History of Special Education: from Isolation to

Integration. Washington D.C., Gallaudet University.