Harvard EdCast: The Evolution of Disabilities Education

By Matt Weber | gse.harvard.edu

In 1975, public schools in the United States accommodated only 1 out of 5 children with disabilities. Many states had laws that explicitly excluded children with disabilities — including children who were deaf or blind, children who had been labeled “mentally retarded,” and children suffering from certain types of mental illness — from attending public school. But thanks in large part to greater exposure in the media, along with a number of lawsuits challenging the exclusion of these children from school, federal legislation was adopted that allowed for positive change in the U.S. On November 30, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]) into law.

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/15/11/harvard-edcast-evolution-disabilities-education