500 YEARS OF

HISTORY.
SPECIAL EDUCATION EDITION.

DALIA MIGUEZ
EDU 204
PEDRO PONCE DE
LEON (1520-1584)
Ponce de Leon is recognized as the “first
teacher of the deaf”. Even though his students
were mainly wealthy children of Aristocrats, his
work was still considered bold because many
people during this time believed that children
who were deaf were unable to be taught.
Jacob Rodrigues Pereire
(1715-1780)
Born in 1715, Rodrigues Pereire was the inventor of
dactylology. Dactylology is the communication
through the fingers made for people who are deaf.
His first student was his sister. He was also the first
teacher of deaf-mutes in France. He made a big
impact on children with special needs because
because of him, children who are not able to hear or
speak can still communicate with the world.
Jean-Marc Gaspard
Itard (1774-1838)
Born in 1774, Gaspard Itard was a French
physician known for founding Otolaryngology.
He is also recognized for being able to
recognize the first case of Tourette’s syndrome.
He also worked with deaf-mutes. He also was
recognized for his efforts to dedicate an
adolescent who seemed to have severe
intellectual disability.
Samuel Gridley Howe
(1801-1876)
Born in 1801 in Boston, Gridley Howe graduated from
Harvard Medical School in 1824. He is recognized for
being the first one to open a residential-school for the
blind and the hearing impaired. He had a theory that
children born with such disabilities should stopped
from being seen with “eyes of pity” and believe that
they can be taught as good as any other children.
Louis Braille
(1809-1852)
Born on January 4th, 1809 Louis Braille made a
huge impact in the life of children and adults who
are vision impaired. He is best known for
developing a tactile system of reading and writing
for people who are blind, known today as Standard
English Braille, also named after his last name. The
system is based of six embossed
dots.
Alexander Graham
Bell (1847-1922)
Alexander Graham Bell is a very famous
inventor, but his big contribution for Special
Education would have to be advocating for
educating children with disabilities in public
schools. His mother was deaf. He had an
advantage for advocating and made a big
contribution to oral education because of the
advantage of being already wealthy and
famous.
Maria Montessori
(1870-1952)
She was the first Woman to enter medical school in Rome.
She had deep interests in working with children that had
learning disabilities. She had the theory that the lack of
support given to children with disabilities was the cause of
their delinquency. She was an advocate who demonstrated
that children are capable of learning as long as they have
materials and tools used adequately to help them progress.
Bibliography
1. Gargiulo, R. M. (2015). Special Education In a Contemporary Society: 5e. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
2. Tuttle, D. (2002). Samuel Gridley Howe. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from
http://www.aph.org/hall/inductees/howe/
3. Jean Marc Gaspard Itard. (2014, April 25). Retrieved September 20, 2017, from
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jean_Marc_Gaspard_Itard
4. Kushner, S. (2005, January). The Story of Louis Braille. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/story-louis-braille
5. Benito, S. (2014, January 29). Alexander Graham Bell and the Deaf community: A troubled history. Retrieved
September 22 , 2017, from
http://www.rootedinrights.org/alexander-graham-bell-and-the-deaf-community-a-troubled-history/