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Historical Perspectives inSpecial Education

A brief review

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Ancient Views (BC)

Seriously affected seldom survived birth

Mildly disabled survived and contributed

Belief in supernatural led to (2) differentviews:

Demons; therefore kill them

Unique; therefore revere and honorRegardless, those with disabilities were

isolated

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An Ethical Dilemma

Over 400,000

babies are born in

the US premature They are at risk for

life long disabilities

Often policy to

resuscitate all

babies weighing 1 lb

or more

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Greek and Roman

Early: Away from supernatural to natural

causes

Holistic interventions such as:

Diet

Exercise

Natural herbs etc

Mind, body, spirit

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Greek and Roman (cont)

Later in this period:

Need for military superiority

Therefore, needed society free of

defectives

Returned to previous views of disability

Called Era of Extermination

Individual is what he is, now and forever

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Greek & Roman(cont)

Consequences of Philosophy:

Punishment: Chaining

Left on hills to die

Thrown off cliffs

Locked awayDrown

Father had right to terminate childs life

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Locked away

Thrown off cliffs

Chained

Greek and Roman treatment of the disabled

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Middle Ages

Rigid caste system

Era of Ridicule

Those with disabilities were:

Used as servants or fools

Some were still put to death

Dwarfs were used as clowns Overall, ridiculed for deformities and behavior

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Middle Ages

Becky

Judy

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Renaissance

Era of Asylum

Catholic Church accepts those with

disabilities as wards of state

Cared for in isolation

No education at first, but humane

treatment

Belief: Once disabled, always disabled

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Industrial Revolution

Era of Education

Need for mass education, literate

society, and good workers

Vocational Emphasis

Sheltered workshops emerged

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Early Education Efforts

Itard-wolf boy, multi-sensory learning

Sequin-training sequence

Montessori-individualized and discovery

learning

These were some seeds of special

education

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Maria Montessori

Eduard Seguin

Jean-Marc

Itard

Pioneers in Special Education

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Turn of the Century (early

1900s) Early: Biological emphasis

Institutional Care/medical model

1900-1950s some classes for the

mentally retarded

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Turn of the Century (cont)

Late: Environmental emphasis

Veterans-rise in litigation and legislation

Civil Rights movement in 50s and 60s

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