Special Education is a programed that is designed for those students who are physically, socially/emotionally, or mentally delayed. A developmental delay signify an aspect of a child’s overall development, which places them behind their peers. Because of these needs a student’s need cannot be met in a traditional classroom, so Special Education programs offers content that fit the needs of the child. Special education in its earliest form usually happened in the parent’s home, in a one on one situation. The reason for this was people with disabilities usually did not venture far from their homes. In the early part of our country most schools were one or two room school houses with usually only one teacher. This teacher was not trained and did not have the time to meet the needs of an individual with a disability. Because of this, parents kept the disabled child at home, either with no teaching or with a private tutor. The best example of this would be Anne Sullivan with Helen Keller. In this essay I will address the social implications of attitude, legislation, and litigation on the lives of students with disabilities.
Attitudes
Children with disabilities in the past have received unequal treatment not only in the public education system, but also in society. Prior to school, students with severe disabilities were put in an institution or kept home with family. From keeping the disabled at home, the next step was institutions. The primary purpose of these institutions was to protect these individuals from society, and society from these individuals it was very rare for an individual ever leave an institution once they were placed in one. Everyone can remember watching horror films that centered on an insane asylum, these were the types of institutions that these were. Even the name insane asylum suggests that the patients were beyond intervention, although this