Overview of Disability Legislation 1

Overview of Disability Legislation in the United States

Carrie L. Allen

University at Buffalo, LAI 574

Author Note

Produced for final portfolio presentation to be used as an artifact for competency 3: the

special education process, state/federal special education laws/regulations and response to

intervention (RTI).
Overview of Disability Legislation 2

Overview of disability legislation in the United States

All teachers in the United States public school system must be follow federal and state

laws when providing educational services for students who have been identified as having a

disability. A definition for a disability can vary depending on the organization or an individuals

perceptions of the disorder. In general terms a disability is when a student faces one or many

barriers to learning. There can be many different reasons for a child having a disability

including: biological causes from diseases or health conditions and environmental causes due to

toxins found in our communities. People with disabilities may experience many different

characteristics ranging from the inability to process information and focus on tasks at hand to

more serious issues such as vision, hearing and mobility issues. Like the disorders themselves,

there are many characteristics that are unique to each disorder. There had long been a stigma

associated with disabilities. Many believed that the disabled could not be educated, presented a

danger to their peers, and must be kept separate from others. However federal legislation passed

in 1975 would begin to change peoples perceptions of the educability of students with

disabilities.

In 1975 the federal government passed a law entitled Education for All Handicapped

Children Act or EHA. EHA guaranteed that children would receive a free and appropriate

education in the least restrictive environment (LRE). There were attempts prior to this to assist

students with disabilities. In 1799, a doctor, Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard, thought of as the father of

special education, used explicit instruction techniques to help a young boy discovered wandering

in the woods of France. In the 1800s Edouard Sequin came to the United States and began to

educate students with disabilities. Other individuals worked with the hearing disabled and the

blind while Elizabeth Farrell initiated public school classes for students with disabilities in
Overview of Disability Legislation 3

1898 (Bryant, Bryant, Smith, 2017, p. 16). However most students continued to be excluded

from public schools. Provided services were inadequate and most of the services were funded

outside of the public-school system (Bryant et al., 2017). With the dawn of the civil rights

movement and advocacy by educators, parents and disabled, the rights of the disabled to receive

a public education would change.

There were several court cases like Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas

that began to argue for a free public education that treated all individuals as equals regardless of

the circumstances. Taking their cue from the changing times Congress passed Section 504 of

the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, intended to prevent discrimination against individuals with

disabilities in programs that receive federal funds (Bryant et al., 2017, p. 19). Part of the act

called for the construction of wheelchair ramps to allow better access to buildings. Nineteen

seventy-five saw the passage of EHA. However, that was deemed needing restructuring and in

1990 President Bush signed into law the American Disabilities Act (ADA). With the passage

President Bush said, Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down (Bryant

et al., 2017, p. 19). ADA was passed to guarantee individuals with disabilities would not

experience discrimination in the work place, on public transportation, and in public buildings.

Doors opened allowing the disabled freedom to take part in activities the rest of the non-disabled

public enjoyed.

At the heart of the special education movement was IDEA or the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act passed in 1990 to replace EHA. IDEA incorporates 6 major

components:

1. A free and appropriate public education (FAPE)

2. The least restrictive environment (LRE)

Overview of Disability Legislation 4

3. An individualized education program (IEP)

4. Procedural due process

5. Non-discretionary assessment

6. Active Parent participation (Raimondi, 2017, slide 37).

Congress had determined that to many students were still being excluded or denied services and

continued to experience discrimination. Additional amendments to the law included services for

infants and toddlers. The sooner children were diagnosed with a disability meant earlier

intervention and a chance of inclusion within the classroom when school started. Several

categories of disabilities were added at this time including autism and traumatic brain injury. By

1997 students covered under IDEA were being included in state and district wide testing. IDEA

was reauthorized again in 2004 and continues to be referred to by all public-school districts in

the United States.

A piece of legislation that followed IDEA was the Assistive Technology Act of 2004

(ATA). Every disability has unique needs that need to be met in an education system. Schools

are required to convene what is called an IEP (Individual Education Plan) Committee to

determine if a child has a disability, the type of disability, and the services needed to help the

child remain in the LRE. If a child is deemed to have a disability a plan is drawn up that

includes accommodations and modifications to aid in the education of the student. A plan can

also include a section for assistive technology (AT). Under IDEA the school district must pay

for any technology necessary for a student to receive a FAPE. An AT device is defined as any

item, equipment, or product system necessary to keep or improve the functional capabilities of a

disabled individual (Bryant et al., 2017). AT helps to remove barriers and allow inclusion into a

classroom.
Overview of Disability Legislation 5

In addition to the passage of laws was the need for educational accommodations in

schools so, that children with disabilities, would receive needed services. All public schools are

to have Special Education programs that include specially trained teachers who provide services

to students with disabilities a set number of hours a week and assist the general education

teachers with strategies they can use in their classroom to make the disabled students feel more

confident with their abilities and to increase their social skills. The special education teachers

are aided by other paraprofessionals who specialized in physical therapy, occupational therapy,

psychology, hearing, vision and speech to name a few. Together they act as a team to improve

disabled students academic and behavioral performance.

New York State now requires public schools to go another step further in adding students

who continue to struggle with issues in the school system. They have initiated a Multi-Tiered

System of Supports or MTSS to help students who are not doing well with academics and

behavior in schools and are resistant to classroom interventions. Two different types of supports

are RTI or Response to Intervention and PBIS or Positive Behavioral Interventions and supports.

Each run on a tier system ranging from 1 to 3 and is used to identify at risk students who are

struggling and possibly could drop out of school. Each time a student does not improve at a tier

they are moved up to a higher tier for more intensive supports. If a student reaches the highest

tier and still shows no improvement they can be referred for special education services. MTSS is

supposed to be a proactive approach for dealing with struggling students or a way to keep them

from being misidentified as special needs.

Today 80% of students who have a disability receive services in the general education

classroom. In total 6.6 million students receive special education services with 13% of them

being in the public schools (Raimondi, 2017 Slide 28). The United States is more compassionate
Overview of Disability Legislation 6

and better equipped to assist students with a public education then ever before. The system may

not always be perfect, but it will continue to have the childrens needs in the forefront of its

legislation and school programs. With knowledge of where we have come from we can continue

to evaluate and make changes that will benefit the most vulnerable in our community.
Overview of Disability Legislation 7

References

Bryant, D. P., Bryant, B. R., and Smith, D. D. (2017). Teaching students with special needs in

inclusive classrooms. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.

Raimondi, S. (2017). Teaching the exceptional learner: Week 1/class (PowerPoint). Retrieved

from lecture notes online

https://ublearns.buffalo.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_147

778_1&content_id=_4163980_1&mode=reset.