History of Special

Education Timeline
Sydne Faith Yanez
EDU/203
2/8/2015

1715-1780
Jacob Rodrigues Pereire introduced
the idea that persons who were deaf
could be taught to communicate. He
developed an early form of sign
language and provided inspiration
and encouragement for the work of
Itard and Seguin.

1745-1826
Philippe Pinel was a French physician
who was concerned with the
humanitarian treatment of
individuals with mental illness. He
advocated releasing institutionalized
patients from their chains, pioneered
the field of occupational therapy and
served as Itards mentor.

1774-1838
Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard was a French
doctor who secured lasting fame
because of his systematic efforts to
educate an adolescent through to
have a severe intellectual disability.
He recognized the impertinence of
sensory stimulation.

1787-1851
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet taught
children with hearing impairments to
communicate through a system of
manual signs and symbols. He
established the first institution for
individuals with hearing impairments
in the United States.

1801-1876
Samuel Gridley Howe was an
American physician and educator
who accorded international fame
because of his success in teaching
individuals with visual and hearing
impairments. He founded the first
residential facility for individuals who
are blind and was instrumental in
inaugurating institutional care for
children with intellectual disability.

1802-1887
Dorothea Lynde Dix was a
contemparary of S. G. Howe, Dix was
one of the first Americans to
champion better and more humane
treatment of individuals who are
mentally ill. He instigated the
establishment of several institutions
for individuals with mental disorders.

1809-1852
Louis Braille was a French educator,
who was blind himself, who
developed a tactile system of reading
and writing for people who were
blind. His system, based on a cell of
six embossed dots, is still used today.
This standardized code is known as
Standard English Braille.

1812-1880
Edouard Seguin was a pupil of Itard,
Seguin was a French physician
responsible for developing teaching
methods for children with intellectual
disabilities. His training emphasized
sensorimotor activities. After
immigrating to the united states, he
helped to found an organization that
was the forerunner of the American
Association on Intellectual and

1817
The American School of the Deaf
(ASD) was founded in Hartford, CT.
by Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

1822-1911
Alexander Graham Bell was an
advocate for educating children with
disabilities in public schools. As a
teacher of students with hearing
impairments, he promoted the use of
residual hearing and developing the
speaking skills of students who are
deaf.

1829
Samuel Gridley Howe established the
New England Asylum for the Blind.

1834
Louis Braille published the Braille
code.

1839
The first teacher training program
opened in Massachusetts.

1840
Rhode Island passed a law
mandating that the government
must provide and all children must
receive an education.

1848
Samuel Gridley Howe establishes the
Massachusetts School for Idiotic and
Feeble Minded Children.

1848
Dorothea Lynde Dix calls attention to
the shocking conditions of American
asylums and prisons.

1857-1911
Alfred Binet was a French
psychologist who constructed the
first standardized developmental
assessment scale capable of
quantifying intelligence. The original
purpose of this test was to identify
students who might profit from a
special education and not to classify
individuals on the basis of ability.
Binet also organized the concept of

1869
First public school class for children
with hearing impairments opens in
Boston.

1870-1952
Maria Montessori achieved worldwide
recognition for her pioneering work with
young children and youngsters with
intellectual disability. She was the first female
to earn a medical degree in Italy, expert in
early childhood education, demonstrated that
children are capable of learning at a very
early age when surrounded with manipulative
materials in a rich and stimulating
environment. She believed that children learn
best by direct sensory experience.

1876
Edouard Seguin helps organize the
first professional association
concerned with intellectual disability,
a predecessor of todays American
Association on Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities.

1877-1956
Lewis Terman was an American
educator and psychologist who
revised Binets original assessment
instrument. The result was the
publication of the Stanford-Binet
Scale of Intelligence in 1916. Terman
developed the nation of intelligence
quotient, or IQ. Hes also famous for
lifelong study of gifted individuals.
Considered the grandfather of gifted

1898
Elizabeth Farrell, later to become the
first president of the Council for
Exceptional Children, begins a
program for backwards or slow
learning children in New York City.

1904
Vineland Training School in New
Jersey inaugurates training programs
for teachers of students with
intellectual disabilities.

1916
Lewis Terman publishes the
Standford-Binet Scale of Intellectual
disability.

1920
Teachers College, Columbia
University, begins a training program
for teachers of pupils who are gifted.

1922
Organization that later would
become the Council for Exceptional
Children is founded in New York City.

1928
Seeing Eye dogs for individuals with
blindness are introduced in the
United States

1936
First compulsory law for testing the
hearing of school-age children is
enacted in New York.

1949
United Cerebral Palsy association is
founded.

1950
National Association for Retarded
Children was founded . (known today
as The Arc of the United States or
The Arc.)

1953
National Association for Gifted
Children is founded.

1954
Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas ruled that separate
but equal has no place in education.

1963
Association for Children with
Learning Disabilities (forerunner to
Learning Disabilities Association of
America) was organized.

1970
Diana v. State Board of Education
liguistifically different students must be
tested in their primary language as well as
English. Students cannot be placed in special
education classes on the basis of IQ tests that
are culturally biased. Verbal test items to be
revised so as to reflect students cultural
heritage. Group-administered IQ tests cannot
be used to place children in programs for
individuals with intellectual disability.

1972
Pennsylvania Association for
Retarded Children v. Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania the State must
guarantee a free public education to
all children with intellectual disability
ages 6-21 regardless of degree of
impairment or associated disabilities.

1972
Mills v. Board of Education, District of Columbia
extended the Pennsylvania decision to include all
children with disabilities. Specifically established the
constitutional right of children with exceptionalities to a
public education regardless of their functional level.
Students have the right to a constructive education
matched to their needs, including specialized
instruction. Presumed absence of fiscal resources is not
a valid reason for failing to provide appropriate
educational services to students with disabilities.
Elaborate due process safeguards established to
project the rights of the child, including parental
notification of pending initial evaluation, reassignment,
or planned termination of special services.

1972,1979
Larry P. v. Riles was a landmark case parallel to the
Diana suit. African American students could not be
placed in classes for children with mild intellectual
disability solely basis of intellectual assessments
found to be culturally and racially biased. The court
instructed school officials to develop an assessment
process that would not discriminate against minority
children. Failure to comply with this resulted in a
1979 ruling that completely prohibited the use of IQ
test for placing African American students in the
classes for children with mild intellectual disability.
Ruiling applies only to the states of California.

1972
Wolf Wolfensberger introduces the
concept of normalization, initially
coined by Bengt Nirje of Sweden, to
the United States.

1973
Public Law 93-112, the Vocational
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was
passed.

1974
Lau v. Nichols was a milestone case for
bilingual education. U.S. Supreme Court ruling
noted that there is not equality in treatment
merely by providing students with the same
facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum;
for students who do not understand English
are effectively foreclosed for a meaningful
education.

1975
Education for All Handicapped
Children Act was passed.

1980
Armstrong v. Kline states refusal to pay for
schooling in excess of 180 days for pupils
with severe disabilities is a violation of
their rights to an appropriate education as
required by PL 94-142. The court found
that some children with disabilities will
regress significantly during summer recess
and have longer recoupment periods; thus,
they are denied an appropriate education if
not provided with a year round education.

1986
Education of the Handicapped Act
Amendments of 1986 was passed.

1990
Americans with Disabilities Act
became a law.

1990
The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), is passed;
among other provisions, emphasizes
transition planning for adolescents
with disabilities.

1997
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act is reauthorized, providing a major
retooling and expansion of services
for students with disabilities and
their families.

2001
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was
established.

2004
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 was
passed.

2008
Americans with Disabilities Act
Amendments of 2008 was enacted.

References

Oldest School for the Deaf in the US. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8,
2015, from http://www.ctmuseumquest.com/?page_id=7789
Special Education - Current Trends, Preparation Of Teachers,
International Context - HISTORY OF. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2015,
from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2438/SpecialEducation.html

Gargiulo, R. (2015). Special education in contemporary society: An

introduction to exceptionality (5h ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage
Publications.