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Unfortunately, discrimination is a large part of our country’s history. Most of us are aware of the abuse and unethical treatment African-Americans suffered prior to and during the Civil Rights movement. What many don’t know is that people with disabilities were also segregated and treated as “second-class citizens.” It wasn’t so long ago that children with disabilities were considered “uneducable” and “untrainable.” They were either institutionalized or kept home. In most cases, public education was not even an option. When
public education did become a reality, with the passage of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, the right to a free,
appropriate, public education was still being violated for many students
with disabilities. While they were able to attend public schools, many
were still not receiving an appropriate education. Many teachers considered
these students a distraction to the learning of the rest of the class.
Or they still believed, law or no law, that these students were uneducable.
In turn, many students with disabilities, although given access to public
schools, were simply placed in the back of the classroom and ignored
for the duration of the school day. These students were not being taught
the skills they needed.
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