Special+Education

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The Birth of Modern Special Education

1972 - **//Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens vs the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania//** - A lawsuit filed by PARC against the Commonwealth of PA, demanding access to education for all handicapped children. This was the first case that addressed the issue regarding the right of a student with a disability to be educated in an environment where placement decisions are made with the overriding principal that a student should be educated in a setting as close to the regular education classroom as possible. The case dealt with the education of children with mental retardation who were being educated in sub par environments and excluded them from public schools. The court ordered Pennsylvania to address the issue of placement calling for a free educational program within the school. The decision further indicated that placing a child in a public program was preferable to a more restrictive placement. Here is the beginning of a development of a continuum for placement options ranked in a hierarchical order such that the general education classroom is considered the best option whenever possible. Source: []
 * Inclusion and Placement Decisions for Students with Special Needs: A Historical Analysis of Relevant Statutory and Case Law**

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1972 - **//Mills vs the Board of Education for the District of Columbia//** - .reinforced the PARC decision by extending such a decision to all students with disabilities. The decision indicated that no child with a disability should be educated in an environment not within the regular public school unless they were granted due process proceedings, prior to removal, to establish appropriateness of such placement. Source: **Inclusion and Placement Decisions for Students with Special Needs: A Historical Analysis of Relevant Statutory and Case Law**

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**Disability History Exhibit** []

Education of All Handicapped Children Act Public Law - 94-142 - November 29, 1975

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Federal Laws for Special Education: Table 13.6 (Johnson, Dupuis, Musial, & Hall, pp. 366) 1958 PL 85-926 Trains college instructors who will teach teachers for the mentally retarded 1963 PL 88-164 Provides funding for research and demonstration projects 1964 PL 89-10 Provides educational programs for the disadvantaged 1965 PL 89-313 Creates funds to support children in hospitals and institutions 1966 PL 89-750 Created the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped 1968 PL 90-480 Prohibits barriers for the physically handicapped 1968 PL 90-538 Establishes special education demonstration sites 1969 PL 91-230 Recognizes learning disabilities and gifted children 1972 PL 92-424 Mandates Head Start programs to serve handicapped children 1973 PL 93-112 The Vocational Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1973 1973 PL 93-380 Requires action by schools in order to maintain eligible for federal funds 1975 PL 94-142 Call for education for all handicapped children

[|Blog on Special Education Law]

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 * A Guide to Special Education Acronyms**
 * Guide to IDEA**

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Disability Rights Timeline []

Special Education Pioneers

Dr. Marc Gold - //Try Another Way// video - working with the severely mentally disabled

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Eunice Kennedy Shriver - Founder of Special Olympics

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Ed Roberts - The Father of Independent Living // Berkeley's Rolling Quads // []

Frank Bowe - // Handicapping America [] // a collection of surveys and other documents that detailed the exact type and magnitude of discrimination people with disabilities had to endure

Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan - //Christmas in Purgatory -// a photo expose of institutions for the mentally retarded in the 1970s []

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