Special education history and evolution have shaped how we support students with learning disabilities in the United States since the end of World War II. The first significant push for special education programs began when parent-organized advocacy groups emerged. In 1947, the American Association on Mental Deficiency held its first convention, which marked the beginning of special education as we know it today. The AAMD was one of the first organizations to advocate for these programs, laying the foundation for the growth of special education services.
Started during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1950s, the United Cerebral Palsy Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and John F. Kennedy’s Panel on Mental Retardation were among an increased amount of advocacy groups for assisted learning programs. This strong push helped bring special education into schools across the country in the 1960’s as school access was established for children with disabilities at state and local levels.
The parent advocacy groups dating back to 1947 laid the ground floor for government legislation being approved by Congress in 1975 that was called the “Education for All Handicapped Children Act” (Public Law 94-142). This act went into effect in October of 1977 and it was the beginning for federal funding of special education in schools nationwide. The act required public schools to offer “free appropriate public education” to students with a wide range of disabilities, including “physical handicaps, mental retardation, speech, vision and language problems, emotional and behavioral problems, and other learning disorders.”
The law from 1977 was extended in 1983 to offer parent training and information centers. Later in 1986 the government started programs targeting youngsters with potential learning disabilities. The Act from 1975 was changed to the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” (IDEA) in 1990. Since the inception of IDEA around 6.5 million children and over 200,000 infants and toddlers are being assisted each year.
Special education history and evolution highlight that, even today, schools often unintentionally overlook a crucial aspect of why students struggle with learning disabilities: weak cognitive skills. Studies show that approximately 4 in 5 students enrolled in special education programs have fundamentally weak cognitive proficiency. Cognitive proficiencies, or cognitive skills, are the mental capabilities required to successfully learn academic subjects. More specifically, cognitive skills include the ability to retain information; process, analyze, and store facts and emotions; create mental pictures; read words; and understand concepts. These skills should not be confused with academic skills, which refer to subjects like math, science, or history. Addressing these cognitive weaknesses is essential to improving outcomes for students in special education, reflecting the need for ongoing evolution in the field.
Proper testing to identify these weak cognitive skills will help quality learning centers put together a plan of action to strengthen them. This sort of training will last a lifetime. By not targeting the cognitive skills a student will struggle for the rest of their life until they are trained properly. It is highly recommended that you get your child tested at a learning training center that provides cognitive testing. Once tested a personal, unique training program can be developed for your child to overcome their learning disability.
Ballou Education is an organization that specializes in special education advocacy employing the best education advocates in the industry. Ballou Education is located in Scottsdale, AZ and can be reached at (602) 614-9002
Tamara Ballou is the founder of Ballou Education and has been advocating and consulting with parents of special education children since 2007. With over 24 years of experience in the education and the special education fields, Tamara Ballou and Ballou Education provides consulting and advocacy services such as: IEP Meetings, 504 Meetings, MET/ Evaluation Meetings, DDD Meetings, Manifestation Meetings and Mediation etc.
Ballou Education helps children with disabilities ranging from ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, PTSD, TBI, Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, Down Syndrome, Apraxia, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delays, FAS, Fragile X, Neurological Disabilities, Seizure Disorder, Speech and Language Disability, Memory and Processing Deficits, CAPD, Vision and Hearing disabilities, Emotional Disability, Chromosome Disorders, Orthopedic Impairment, and Twice Exceptional Gifted.