Special education has been assisting students with learning
disabilities in the United States education system since the end of
World War II. The first push for special education started when a group
of parent-organized advocacy groups surfaced. 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.
Started during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1950s, the
United Cerebral Palsy Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
and John F. Kennedy's Panel on Mental Retardation were among an
increased amount of advocacy groups for assisted learning programs. This
strong push helped bring special education into schools across the
country in the 1960's as school access was established for children with
disabilities at state and local levels. The parent advocacy groups dating back to 1947 laid the ground
floor for government legislation being approved by Congress in 1975 that
was called the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act" (Public Law
94-142). This act went into effect in October of 1977 and it was the
beginning for federal funding of special education in schools
nationwide. 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
language problems, emotional and behavioral problems, and other learning
disorders."
The law from 1977 was extended in 1983 to offer parent training and
information centers. Later in 1986 the government started programs
targeting youngsters with potential learning disabilities. The Act from
1975 was changed to the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act"
(IDEA) in 1990. Since establishment of IDEA more than 6.5 million
children and 200,000+ toddlers and infants are being assisted each year.
Special education in schools often unintentionally overlooks a key
aspect of why students suffer from learning disabilities. The reasons
for common learning disabilities are weak cognitive skills. Studies show
that 80% of students enrolled in special education at some level suffer
from underlying weak cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are the mental
capabilities that one needs to successfully learn academic subjects. In
more detail cognitive skills are learning skills used to retain
information; process, analyze, and store facts and feelings; and create
mental pictures, read words, and understand concepts. They are not to be
confused with academic skills which would include subjects like math,
science, or history.
Proper testing to identify these weak cognitive skills will help
quality learning centers put together a plan of action to strengthen
them. This sort of training will last a lifetime. By not targeting the
cognitive skills a student will struggle for the rest of their life
until they are trained properly. It is highly recommended that you get
your child tested at a learning training center that provides cognitive
testing. Once tested a personal, unique training program can be
developed for your child to overcome their learning disability.
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com
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