Special Education Until 1975, Disabled Thesis

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S. Office of Education (Osgood 1999).

Each federal act preceding the Education for All Handicapped Children Act freed up funds for special education training programs and for special education programs themselves. Moreover, the legislation raised awareness about the breadth and diversity of the disabled community and helped to reduce stigma. President Johnson followed well in the footsteps of his predecessor by establishing the Committee on Mental Retardation and helping to pass Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, PL 89-10). The Act opened up funds to be used at the state level for special education and lead to the creation of the Bureau of Education of the Handicapped. Although focused on the needs of the mentally disabled community, the Johnson era legislation was integral in providing precedent for the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.

Osgood (1999) also suggests that impetus for the Education for All Handicapped Children Act came from public awareness of the failures of private institutions to care for the disabled. Public outcry called for the "dismantling the dependency on segregated institutions and instead encouraging a more normalized, community-based approach to caring for and educating this particular population of persons with disabilities gained significant ground," (Osgood 1999). Thus, the table was set for a reasoned discussion about how to integrate disabled children into the mainstream public education system.

Stuck Writing Your "Special Education Until 1975, Disabled" Thesis?

When the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed, the discussion paused at leveling the playing field in terms of access to public education funding. As the Act evolved, inclusiveness became its core theme.

The National Association for Retarded Children (NARC), which worked with President Kennedy on special education issues, remained one of the most powerful lobbying groups throughout the 1960s. The organization stimulated scholarly inquiry and discourse related to social stigma, social justice, and the legal rights of American citizens with disabilities. NARC also helped promote empirical research into the best practices of special education. Scientific research allowed public policy to be proposed and framed intelligently. The public discourse changed too, as terms like "learning disabilities" entered the mainstream lexicon (Osgood 1999).

Although much of the legislation and research on special education prior to 1975 was geared toward mental and learning disabilities, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act provided for the needs of -- as the title suggests -- all children who are disabled. Advancements in technology have revealed the ways that the physically disabled can maximize their academic and social potential in the classroom. IDEA builds upon the strong foundation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and stimulates research into the ways technology and teaching can make the United States a more.....

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