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Zeke Michel
EDU 1400
Brett Campbell
02/21/2015
Final Essay
It wasnt long ago that people with disabilities were turned away from public schools.
They were turned away to cater to the convenience of the teacher. It had nothing to do with their
ability to learn, in fact many of them were on the same IQ level or higher than the other kids.
They were turned away simply because the teachers didnt want to put up with their disability.
Luckily the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 came about which was accompanied by the Free and
Appropriate Public Education section which guaranteed free public education to kids with
disabilities. These two acts lead to the Education of Handicapped Children Act being passed into
law in 1975 which stated the guidelines to the education and protected the kids in the schools. In
1990 the law was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, AKA
the IDEA, which it is known as today.
The Free and Appropriate Public Education act was the first act to give kids and people
with disabilities any rights to public services. FAPE is basically the law that states that kids with
disabilities are allowed in public schools in the Least Restrictive Environment. However, FAPE
would be nothing without IDEA (USDE.)
IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act was the turning point for people
with disabilities. No matter how you look at it now days an education is the foundation for a

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good life. Before IDEA kids with disabilities would be turned away from public schools because
the schools would say that they didnt have the resources to teach them. Now due to IDEA all
kids no matter what cannot be turned away from public schooling. This means that every child
can be taught as much as their capabilities will let them. The IDEA has made it so that many
more people with disabilities now days can hold down a job, go to college, balance a checkbook,
and basically just live a normal life (CPIR.)
The Least Restrictive Environment lays out the aspect of schooling for these kids. It
states that these kids are required to be taught in general education schools alongside their
regular education peers in the school that they would go to if not disabled. This only applies if it
is appropriate for them. There are specialty schools out there for these kids but they are reserved
for kids who have severely low IQs or are too violent or self-abusive to be in regular classroom
settings. However, typically the kids are put into the regular classrooms and taken out for part of
the day to go over their IEP goals and to make sure that they understand their daily activities.
They can also be left fully in regular classrooms and be merely checked in on by the special
education teacher. The LRE aspect of IDEA is pretty self-explanatory and is different for most
every child (Law.)
For a long time many thought that kids with disabilities should be institutionalized and
swept under the rug as if they didnt exist. Places like Willowbrook were opened to send these
kids to, to be left and forgotten. Life at Willowbrook held no expectations, it was endless days
of emptiness with nothing to do and no one to talk to. With over 5,000 residents it was the largest
institution of its kind in the world. It was called a school, but fewer than 20% attended classes
(Unforgotten.) Institutions made it so that we could hide the things that people thought that we

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should be ashamed of, when really we should have just realized that they arent mistakes. Kids
with disabilities are a learning experience.
Overall we have come a long way with inclusion for people with disabilities in education.
However, we still have a long way to go. There is still a negative stigma on specialty schools for
these kids and many in the regular schools suffer from bullying. We have gotten the push that we
need to get these kids an appropriate public education and many have accepted them into the
schools. There are still those who think that they should not be in the schools because it is a drain
on taxes. There are plenty of regular education kids who go to public schooling until about 10th
or 11th grade and then drop out. They are not called drains on taxes and society. Plus with these
kids many of them go on to get remedial jobs at retail stores and fast food restaurants, and are
happy doing it. And in many cases it is because these schools help them learn how to. If anything
these kids should be welcomed with open arms because they can be taught just like everyone else
and can provide true service with a smile which should be extremely enlightening on society.

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Works Cited:
CPIR. "Center for Parent Information and Resources." Center for Parent Information and
Resources. Center for Parent Information and Resources, n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.
Law, Wright's. "Wrightslaw - Least Restrictive Environment/Inclusion Index Page." Wrightslaw
- Least Restrictive Environment/Inclusion Index Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.
USDE. "Free Appropriate Public Education under Section 504." Free Appropriate Public
Education under Section 504. U.S. Department of Education, n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.
Unforgotten: 25 Years After Willowbrook. Fisher Klingenstein Ventures, 2002. DVD.