Alyson Bain ISP 220 Development of Typical and Atypical Learners

A view of Special Education: Past, Present and Future.

When considering special education, it is all too easy to forget or gloss over its shameful
and horrifyingly recent past. In recent history students with disabilities, and indeed people
in general with disabilities were treated appallingly. Laws and amendments to older laws
continue to be made to ensure the continuing understanding and research based correct
and appropriate practice is implemented throughout education and wider society. This
essay will look at the origins of special education and treatment of the disabled, identify
pivotal landmark court cases and the laws that were passed consequentially, and
speculate what the future of special education may look like.
It is hard to comprehend how badly people with disabilities were treated in our relatively
recent past. As recently as 1990 it was necessary to pass the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) to ensure civil rights for disabled people and ensure they are not discriminated
against by lack of accessibility. Previous to this act it can be said that there was an
exclusionary past for people with disabilities, especially children, who had to fight for a
decent and fair education. Indeed, Heward (2013) cites Banks and Banks (2013) stating
that Children who are different because of race, culture, language, gender,
socioeconomic status or exceptionality have often been denied full and fair access to
educational opportunities (Heward, 2013, pg. 13).
The terrible treatment of people with disabilities in the 1800s saw people confined in jails
and almshouses, without decent food, clothing, hygiene or exercise. Society had no place
for the disabled, and had little compassion or interest in them. Mothers were blamed for
having autistic children, and the focus was on treating the problem rather than
empowering the individual as we do today (www.ncld-youth.info). The need for education
as opposed to institutionalization grew with the civil rights movements of the 1950s and
1960s. The idea that separate is not equal applies to both areas and was evident in the
ruling of the 1954 court case Brown Vs Board of Education. This landmark case declared
that all children, regardless of race, are entitled to a non segregated education. This led to
parents of students with disabilities wanting the same applied to them. Advocacy groups
were created to pressurize and enforce change for all people with disabilities, and the right
to education for students with disabilities (Heward, Pg.15).
The need for change and the pressure from advocacy groups grew as society changed
and adapted. The first institution for research of exceptional children was opened in 1951
in Illinois and brought a new focus to special education. This built on the ideas from the
much earlier American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, founded in 1817.
Not only were the educational ideas updated but the language used to describe people
with disabilities also began to change (Winzer, 1993).
By the 1970s laws and court cased saw much change in the field of special education.
The Education for Handicapped Children Act (EHA) was created, amended and revised
during the 1970s. In 1972 the case of PARC Vs Commonwealth of Pennsylvania saw the
introduction of free appropriate education for children with disabilities, and the Mills Vs
BOE case the same year resulted in a class action stating that children with disabilities, no
matter how severe, have a right to a free public education (FAPE). By 1973, Federal law
section 504 was in place applying to anyone with a disability, and enforcing the intolerance

Alyson Bain ISP 220 Development of Typical and Atypical Learners

A view of Special Education: Past, Present and Future.

to discrimination of any kind. In 1975 the EHA was amended to become EAHCA, the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This introduced educating children in the
least restrictive environment and no child was to be rejected and evaluations were to be
non discriminatory.
In 1990 EAHCA was amended further and turned into IDEA, the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, with the addition of autism (which was now far better
understood), and students with brain injuries. In the same year the previously mentioned
ADA was enforced for access to all areas, provisions and modifications made for disabled
access as we see and expect today. IDEA was further amended in 1997 to include ADD/
ADHD under the other health impairment category, and finally brought up to date in 2004
when it became IDEIA, to keep up with the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
accountability law.
Looking forward to the future of special education in the digital age, the possibilities seem
endless. Observing todays classrooms, making use of the recording abilities of apps on
ipads, and digital devices. The teacher is able to record the quiz or test and the students,
with headphones on, can pause and replay the question as many times as they need to.
The students can work at their own pace, giving them the confidence to achieve. For
every differently abled student there is technology today that will assist their learning and
understanding both academically and socially, and ever progressive technology will see
this increase into the classrooms of tomorrow. Books are made in braille commonly for the
lesser sighted, and audio books are also increasingly available. Todays teacher looking
into the future can see resources that make differentiation in a blended class achievable
for all students, and makes the general education classroom more accessible to children
with disabilities.
It can then be said then that society has adapted and changed with the needs of all of its
people. The appalling treatment of people with disabilities, although disturbingly recent, is
now firmly in the past, and thankfully we have learned and adapted with each court case
and amendment. With children in special education now representing approximately 12%
of the school age population (Heward, pg.39) the need for constant review and engaging
teaching practices has never been greater.

Essay Peer reviewed by McKinzie Smith.

Alyson Bain ISP 220 Development of Typical and Atypical Learners

A view of Special Education: Past, Present and Future.

References.

Heward, W.L (2013) 10th Ed. Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education
Pearson.
Winzer, M. A. (1993) The History of Special Education : From Isolation to Integration
Gallaudet University Press, Washington D.C.
http://www.ncld-youth.info/index.php?id=61 Cited on 9/16/2014
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2438/Special-Education.html Cited on 9/9/2014