Posts Tagged learning disabilities
Special Education Law – Overview
Many of us, who went to school not that long ago, remember that being a special needs student meant riding to school in a separate bus and attending one class with other children of varying disabilities. These classes resembled more of a day care than school, and even the most advanced students had little hope of receiving a high school diploma, let alone attend college. Since that time, the term disability, and special needs student, has expanded to encompass much more than a person with an IQ below a certain arbitrary standard. What I have attempted to do in my first article is to give a little history of the evolution of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
In 1954 the United States Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) which found that segregated schools were a violation of equal protection rights. It would be another twenty years before this concept was applied to children with handicaps, especially learning disabilities, trying to receive an education. In fact, shortly after Brown was decided the Illinois Supreme Court found that compulsory education did not apply to mentally impaired students, and as late as 1969, it was a crime to try to enroll a handicapped child in a public school if that child had ever been excluded.
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Don’t Shy Away From Special Education Programs For Your Child
If your child has special needs or a disability, special education may help your child succeed in school and in life. However, many parents fear that their child will be singled out for special education classes in a room separate from their classmates, so they avoid seeking out special education arrangements.
While this was the case at one time, current special education laws require schools to provide an educational environment that is as unrestrictive and equal for all children as possible.
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