A Brief History of Special Education
A Brief History of Special Education
Special education has come a long way since the first inclusion classroom for students with disabilities was
established at Fernald State School and Training Center in Massachusetts in 1966. Society's understanding of
people with disabilities and their needs has evolved to include recognition that they can and should be
included in classrooms with typically developing peers to learn alongside them.
A Brief History of Special Education
Since then, the educational philosophy of "inclusion" - the idea that all children, including those who have special
needs, should be educated alongside those who do not - has been adopted by schools across America as the standard
model for teaching those with disabilities. In 1975, Congress enacted P...