Special education has been to help students with learning disabilities in the educational system of the United States since the end of World War II. The first impulse for special education began when a group of parent advocacy groups organized to the surface. In 1947, one of the first organizations, the American Association on Mental Deficiency, held its first convention. That marked a starting point for special education as we know it today.

It began during the civil rights movement in the early 1950, the Cerebral Palsy Association, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Panel of John F. Kennedy ‘s Mental Retardation were among a larger number of support groups for assisted learning programs. This strong push helped bring special education in schools across the country in the 1960′s as access to school was created for children with disabilities to state and local level.

Advocacy groups of parents dating back to 1947 set the ground floor of government legislation being approved by Congress in 1975 that was called the “Education for All Handicapped Children Act” (Public Law 94-142). This Act came into force in October 1977 and was the beginning of federal funding of special education in schools. The act required public schools to offer “free appropriate public education” to students with a wide range of disabilities, including “physical handicaps, mental retardation, speech, vision and speech problems, emotional and behavioral problems, and other learning disorders. ”

The 1977 law was expanded in 1983 to offer parent training and information centers. Later, in 1986 the government started programs targeting youngsters with potential learning problems. The 1975 Act was changed to the “Individuals with Disabilities” (IDEA) in 1990. Since establishment of IDEA more than 6. 5 million children and 200,000 + children and infants are being treated each year.

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