Special educational needs and

disability: evolution of the field

Development Of The Special Education For
The Few: A Historical Perspective
 200 years after the United States
was established in 1776, little was
done to advance the rights of the
disabled students. Over 4.5 million
children were denied adequate
schooling before legislation to
ensure equal educational
opportunities for special education
children began in the early 1970s.
 But once legislation began, a
steady stream of mandates, laws
and decisions presented special
needs students with
opportunities previously unheard
of. Suddenly, the foundation of a
quality, individualized education
in an accepting, unrestricted
environment made independent
living an option.
 In the 18th century, the British government
began with blind and deaf children.
- The school of Instruction for the Indigent
Blind established in 1791 in Liverpool and
other private foundations that quickly
followed it in 1800s in Norwich and
London; which were concerned with
instructing inmates in the Christian faith
and in earning their living.
 The plan required “habits of industry” be
formed, with men making baskets, table
clothes and whips, while women spun
yarn, made sail-cloths and picked oakum.
 As recipients of public charity, the
inmates had little freedom. As the
Liverpool School Visitors’ Books record,
those who missed Sunday service or fell
asleep in church might be punished
through a ‘bread and water table’. It
was not until other schools were
founded thirty years later that
educational aspects were introduced
into the curriculum like teaching the
blind to read in the London society in
1838.
College for the Blind sons of Gentlemen (1866)
Worcester
 To bestow a sound and liberal education
upon male sex afflicted with total and
partial blindness and belonging by birth
to upper, professional, or middle class of
the society.
 (National Institute for Blind in
Chorleywood 1921- school for girls)
 Football, cricket, swimming were
merged.
 The only route for blind children to
 In
Mr. Braidwood’s Academy for
he Deaf and Dumb in Edinburgh
took a small number of paying
pupils and were taught to speak
and read.

 Attempts were made to teach a

trade to girls and boys with
physical disabilities from poor
homes in the Cripples’ Home.
The children are expected to
 Forthose who experienced
serioous difficulties in
learning, there was little
provision apart from
workhouses and infirmaries
for those who needed secure
care.

 Thefirst provision was: The

Asylum for Idiots established
Education for (almost) all
 The first advocacy groups to fight for
quality special education were made up
of parents whose children were
marginalized as far back as 1933.
 The majority of these family associations
began making waves in the 1950s when
their lobbying encouraged the passage
of laws that provided training for
teachers who worked with deaf, hard-of-
hearing or intellectually disabled
students (historically called “mentally
retarded”).
 In the 1960s, multiple laws were passed,
granting funds for special education
students.
 In the early 1970s, multiple landmark
court decisions giving states the
responsibility to provide special
education resources and schooling to
students in need of it.
 Then, in 1975, the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act (EHA)
guaranteed and enforced the right of
children with disabilities to receive a free,
appropriate education.
 To take the rehabilitation law one more
step, in 1990, George H.W. Bush signed
legislation called Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA goes
beyond the classroom to protect individuals
with disabilities in workplaces, buildings,
and transportation. Even
telecommunications are also required to
make accommodations for individuals with
disabilities
 Another law was created and it was
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). As a
parent of children with hearing loss,
understanding IDEA is extremely important.
 The law was originally established under the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act in
1975 but has evolved throughout the years.
Today, IDEA has six core principles that are in
place as the foundation of the law.

1. Free and appropriate public education (FAPE).

Under this principle, students with a disability are
“entitled” to attend public schools and receive
educational services to address their specific
needs. This includes technology, materials, and
even set at no cost to the parent. (Friend,
Bursuck. 2015).
2. Least Restrictive Environment
(LRE).
LRE is the idea that students with a
disability should not be placed in a
separate classroom or school. The
goal for each child is to have them in
a classroom that will limit them the
least. In some cases, a separate
classroom or setting will be the best
fit for a child, but for most children,
the general education class setting
will be the LRE.
3. Individualized Education
 Each child is entitled to their
own individualized education
plan (IEP). What is fair and
equal to one child, will be
different than for another
child. A team of professionals
writes an IEP with the child’s
parents.
 
4. Nondiscriminatory Evaluation
 Nondiscriminatory evaluation refers to the
tools that are used for evaluating a
student. The tools should not discriminate
based on race, culture or disability.

5. Due Process 
 The individualized education plan for each
child is seen as a legal document and
cannot be changed. A specific set of
informal and formal procedures must take
place.
6. Zero reject/Child Find
 Under this principle, students
are protected from being told
that the school can not meet
the needs of their child and
should go to another school.
The district is responsible for
providing the services.
 .Special Education Teaching Today
 In 2001 and 2004, the No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB) provided
further accountability to schools
and added technology assistance
and loan programs to help
schools acquire needed special
education resources.
 Learning difficulties disabilities
and the Law
 In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, under the
terms of the relevant legislation, a child has special
educational needs if he or she has a learning
difficulty which calls for educational provision to be
made for him or her.

A child may be seen as having such difficulty if he

experiences
 A. Significantly greater difficulty in learning than
the majority of same- age peers
 B. Has a disabilty which prevents him from
making use of educ facilities of a kind generally
provided for same-age peers in mainstream
educational institutions.
 In law, a learning difficulty creates a
need. The need is “special” if the
provision required to satisfy it is
“special”.
 A student might have a “learning
difficulty” if she has specific literacy
difficulty which makes it hard to
engage in the same learning
activities as other students.
 But a child might also have a
“learning difficulty” if she has a
physical disability that creates a
barrier to moving around the school
 “Additional support for learning Act 2004”
in Scotland

 Scotland established this concept in 2004.

 A child has such needs if for whatever
reason, he is not likely to be able to
‘benefit from school education provided or
to be provided for him without the
provision of additional support’

School education here includes such

education directed to the development of
the personality, talents and mental and
physical disabilities of the child or young
 Current definitions: areas of “need”
 The Special educational Needs Code of Practice for
Wales (2004) recommends that assessment and
provision should focus on four broad “areas of need”,
described as communication and interaction, cognition
and learning, behavior, emotional and social
development, and sensory or physicaL

 Code of Wales: Although needs and requirements

can usefully be organised into areas, individual pupils
may well have needs which span two or more areas.
Where needs are complex in this sense it is important
to carry out detailed assessment of individual pupils
and their situations.
 A number of teaching approaches that are
identified in the Code of Wales as
appropriate for addressing the needs of
students who experience difficulties in
communication and interaction may also
be appropriate to those who experience
difficulty in cognition and learning:
1. Flexible in teaching arrangements
2. Help in acquiring, comprehending and
using language
3. Help in articulation
4. Help to use different means of
communication confidently and
competently for a range of purposes
 In scotland, the approach is different. The
revised Supporting Childrens Learning Code of
Practice offers a non-exhaustive list of children
who may require additional support for a
variety of reasons.
 This includes who:
• Have motor or sensory impairments
• Are being bullied
• Have a learning disability
• Are looked after by a local authority
• Have learning difficulty such as dyslexia
• Are living with parents who are abusing
substances/mental health problems
• Not attending school regularly
• Have emotional social difficulties
A wide range of factors broadly
grouped into for overlapping areas
are identified as potentially creating
barriers that may lead to the need for
additional support:
 Learning environment
 Family circumstances
 Disability of health need
 Social and emotional factors
 Responding to Individual
needs

In Scotland, a revised Supporting

Children's Learning Code of Practice
was published in 2010
“It explains the duties on education
authorities and other agencies to
support children’s learning. It
provides guidance on the Act’s
provisions as well as on the
The code sets out a phased approach to
addressing individual needs. A process of
PERSONAL LEARNING PLANNING or PLP is
considered appropriate to address many
needs.

PLP sets out goals that relate to the young

person’s own circumstances. These must be
manageable, realistic and reflect strengths as
well as needs. The child should e given the
opportunity regularly to discuss his progress
with a member of staff. If a particular type of
monitor is not effective, an alternative
approach should be explored. The parents,
child and the school should be fully involved.