A HISTORY OF
EARLY
INTERVENTION
1959
“The Training of Professional Personnel Act of 1959
(Public Law 86-158), which helped train leaders to
educate children with mental retardation*;”(IDEA)
“The Mental Retardation Facilities and Community
1963
Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963
(Public Law 88-164) expanded previous specific
training programs to include training across all
disability areas.(IDEA)”
1960'S
Home visits are added to Headstart
1979
Brofenbrenner’s system of ecological framework.
Identifies children as individual sand also part of larger
society.
1975
“Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act (Public Law 94-142), also known as the
EHA, to support states and localities in protecting the
rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and
improving the results for infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities and their families.”(IDEA)
1986
“Reauthorization (Public Law 99-457) addressed early
intervention and mandated that individual states provide
services to families of children born with disabilities from the
time they are born. Previously, these services were not available
until a child reached the age of three.”(IDEA) The term “natural
environment” is introduced to legislation.
1980'S
Depaulo and Dunst study the negative effects
of “help giving”
1992
Bar and Cochran study positive effects of
empowerment.
2004
“The IDEA reauthorization aligned the IDEA with
the No Child Left Behind Act
requirements.’”(IDEA)
2008
“In 2008, the department issued regulations it determined were
needed to clarify and strengthen effective implementation and
administration of IDEA programs. These IDEA regulations addressed:
Parental consent for continued special education and related
services;
Non-attorney representation in due process hearings;
State monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement;
Allocation of funds; and
Positive efforts to employ and advance in employment individuals
with disabilities.”(IDEA)
2015
“The 2015 revisions revised regulations governing the requirement that
LEAs maintain fiscal effort; removed the authority for states to define
modified academic achievement standards and develop alternate
assessments based in those modified academic achievement
standards or eligible students with disabilities.”(IDEA)
2017
“Notably, a 2017 revision reflected changes made to the IDEA by Rosa’s
Law, which replaces references to “mental retardation” in Federal law
with “intellectual disability” or “intellectual disabilities.” Other 2017
revisions removed and revised IDEA definitions based on the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended
by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA).”(IDEA)
1958
“The Captioned Films Acts of 1958 (Public Law 85-
905), enabled the training provisions for teachers of
students with mental retardation” (IDEA0
1961
“The Teachers of the Deaf Act of 1961 (Public
Law 87-276), which trained instructional
personnel for children who were deaf or hard
of hearing;” (IDEA)
1965
“The Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (Public Law 89-10) and the State Schools
Act (Public Law 89-313) provided states with
direct grant assistance to help educate children
with disabilities.” (IDEA)
1968/1972
“The Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act of
1968 (Public Law 90-538) and the Economic Opportunities
Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-424) authorized support for,
respectively, exemplary early childhood programs and increased
Head Start enrollment for young children with disabilities.”(IDEA)
1971/1972
“Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v.
Commonwealth-”consent decree in which the Pennsylvania
agreed to provide a free public education for children with mental
retardation. That decree and many of the procedural protections in
it became the basis for the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act (PL 94-142) enacted in 1975.” (Public Interest Law
Center) and Mills vs. Board of Education which gave students with
disabilities the right to free public education. “ (IDEA)
1984
Nicholas Hobbs created new system of early
intervention which involved family at the center;
appropriately named, family centered practice.
1988
Dunst, Trivette, and Deal, publish: Enabling and Empowering
Families: Principles and Guidelines for Practice
1990
“This landmark law’s name changed to
the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, or IDEA”(IDEA)
1997
“The 1997 (Public Law 105-17) reauthorization articulated a new challenge
to improve results for children with disabilities and their families. This
included an emphasis on access to the general curriculum. Additionally,
states were given the authority to expand the “developmental delay”
definition to also include students up to age nine. The law also required
parents be provided an opportunity to attempt to resolve disputes with
schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) through mediation and
provided a process for doing so.”(IDEA)
2006
“The 2006 IDEA regulations required schools to use research-based
interventions in the process of assisting students with learning difficulties or
determining eligibility for special education. The 2006 regulations also
addressed other new requirements included in the 2004 reauthorization, such
as:
The resolution process required when a parent files a due process
complaint, and
Shifting the responsibility to provide equitable services for parentally-
placed private school children with disabilities to the local educational
agency (LEA) in which the private school is located.”
(IDEA)
2011
“Both 2011 and 2013 regulations included clarifications or revisions to
the IDEA for infants and toddlers with disabilities programs.
Additionally, the 2013 regulations revised the parental consent
requirements related to a child’s or parent’s public benefits and
ensured parent of children with disabilities are specifically informed of
all their legal protections when public agencies seek access to public
benefits or insurance to pay for services required under the
IDEA.”(IDEA)
2016
“The department revised the regulations in 2016 with the goal of
promoting equity under IDEA. The revised regulations help ensure that
states meaningfully identify LEAs with significant disproportionality and
that states assisit LEAs in ensuring that children with disabilities are
properly identified for services, receive necessary services in the least
restrictive environment.”(IDEA)
REFRNCES
U.S. Department of Education: Individuals With Disabilities Education
Act-IDEA
https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History
The Public Interest Law Center
https://pubintlaw.org/cases-and-projects/pennsylvania-association-for-
retarded-citizens-parc-v-commonwealth-of-pennsylvania/
Pletcher, L.C. & Youngren, N.O. (2013). Early intervention workbook: Essential
practices for quality
services. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co