Historical Perspectives

The perception of disabilities (including MR) was and is influenced by social and

political factors Barbarian period (Antiquity) Humanitarian period (Renaissance-today)

Antiquity

Prior to 1700 Not well documented Various attitudes and perceptions (Sparta,

Egypt, Rome, monasteries, colonial society)

Milder forms of MR were not detected Little evidence for the existence of training

and services

Emergence and early disillusionment (1700-1890)

Sensationalism – the importance of the senses in human development (J. Locke & J. J. Rousseau)

Renaissance – rebirth – focused on human potential -> education emphasized development in all intellectual and physical realms.

Implications: - new social attitude: equality of rights- the climate allowed ideas to be put into practice

Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard

A medical doctor (deafness) Aveyron, central France, 1799. Victor - l’homme sauvage, the feral child, the wild boy.

“constitutional imbecility” or “educable?” (Frith, 2003)

A pioneer in education using specialized techniques

Q: he survived in the wilderness. Did he have MR, autism, or any disability?

Edouard Seguin

worked 18 mos. with a child with severe MR; he employed more systematic methods

(physiological and moral methods) than Itard, and could demonstrate that the child learned some skills;

education program at Salpetriere, Paris; “Idiocy and Its Treatment by Physiological

Methods” 1866

Johann Guggenbuhl

Abendberg - the first residential facility where people with disabilities were prepared to reenter the society

It served as model of institutional programming

“the discipline of special education was conceived and

born in Europe”

Beirne-Smith, Ittenbach, & Patton, 2002

American Pioneers

Dorothea Dix Samuel Howe Hervey Wilbur Emphasized quality of life and service

provision for persons with MR Howe set up the first public setting for indiv. w/ MR Wilbur set up the first private setting for indiv. w/ MR

Conclusion

People with disabilities are capable of progress, provided they benefit of some type of training

Why disillusion?

People w/ disabilities could not be changed into “normal” persons (especially w/ severe disab.)

Community integration requires not only placement and training, but also community preparation

Societal attitude changed: pity and protection -> the no. of institutions increased

Postwar urbanization and industrialization

Facilities-based orientation(1890-1960)

Protection of society from “mentally defectives”

Institutions segregated men and women (American Breeder’s Association, 1911)

Charles Darwin – theory of evolution Sir Francis Galton – genius is inherited Gregor Mendel – laws of inheritance

Facilities-based orientation - cont’d

Eugenics:sterilization, segregation, and limitation on immigration

Sterilization laws in 23 states in US (by 1938, more than 27,000 people in US were sterilized)

Immigration = inferiority? (the Immigration Restriction Act from 1924 forbid Italians, Russians, Hungarians, and Jewish people to enter US)

The testing movement – 1905, France: Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed the first “mental test” – identified milder forms of MR noticeable in academic settings.

Facilities-based orientation - cont’d

Binet-Simon test translated and introduced in USA in 1911

Lewis Terman (Univ of Standford) adapted and refined the test in 1916: Stanford-Binet test.

1896 – the first special class for students with MR in US: Providence, Rhode Island.

1911 – New Jersey issued legal mandates for education of students with MR

Facilities-based orientation - cont’d

World War I – the alpha and beta intelligence tests for assigning military personnel

1920 – the Vocational Rehabilitation Act 1922 – the International Council for the

Education of Exceptional Children (now CEC)

1929 – the Great Depression 1932 – Franklin Roosevelt 1942 – World War II

Facilities-based orientation - cont’d

1950 – the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children (now the Arc of the United States)

By 1952, most states (46 of 48) promulgated laws on education of individuals with MR, but did not mention programming for all of them

1934 – Ivar Asbjorn Folling, Norway, explained the influence of phenylketonuria on children development

1935 – Edgar Doll, USA, published the Vineland Social Maturity Scale

1949 – David Wechsler published the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

Sevices-based orientation (1960-1985)

J. F. Kennedy –President’s Panel on Mental Retardation: national policy formation

Lyndon B. Johnson – War on Poverty: Project Head Start (early intervention)

1973 – amendments to Vocational Rehabilitation Act (Section 504)

1975 – Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142)

1990 –Americans w/ Disabilities Act: civil rights

Sevices-based orientation cont’d

Normalization - originated in 1950s in Scandinavia N. E. Bank- Mikkelsen and Bengt Nirje and Wolf Wolfensberger in US

“making available to the mentally retarded patterns and conditions of everyday life which are as close as possible to the norms and patterns of the mainstream of society” (Nirje, 1969, p. 181)

Supports-based orientation (1985-present)

Educating children with MR in inclusive settings with appropriate supports

No. of students with MR served under IDEA decreased b/c of early intervention and definitional and attitudinal changes

IDEA reauthorized in 1997 Introd. of behavioral analysis techniques Human Genome Project, MRI, etc. Health care

Supports -based orientation cont’d

Empowerment – active participation (advocacy)

Self-determination - free choice and decision making

Supported employment – a job coach provides specific training to the individual with MR

Quality of life – overall being

References

Beirne-Smith, M., Ittenbach, R. F. & Patton, J. R. (2002). Mental Retardation. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River.

Frith, U. (2003). Autism: Explaining the Enigma. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.

Taylor, S. (1996). Disability studies and mental retardation, Disability Studies Quarterly, 16(3), 4-13.

“The field of MR is an integral part of the Disabilities Studies”

Study of MR has to originate in the perspectives and experiences of people w/ MR

“MR is a social construct and a cultural artifact” Role of family members in the lives of persons

w/ MR

Ethics

1: motivation based on ideas of right and wrong [syn: ethical motive, morals, morality]

2: the philosophical study of moral values and rules [syn: moral philosophy]

Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ethics

Ethics

The science of human duty; the body of rules of duty drawn from this science; a particular system of principles and rules concerting duty, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions; as, political or social ethics; medical ethics.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Paul, J., French, P. & Cranston-Gingras (2001). Ethics and special education. Focus on Exceptional Children, 34, 1-16.

Areas in Special Education where ethics became an issue:

-assessment, instruction, curriculum, work with families, instructional competence, service delivery, funding, research

Choice morality

“A person can be legitimately held morally responsible only for those things he or she did as a result of having chosen to do them” (p. 4)

Meaningful choice = freedom of action

Ethical dilemma:

An individual has to take a difficult decision, balancing moral standards and effects of his choice

OR An individual makes “morally permissible

choices while understanding and protecting individual interests” (p. 5)

Character morality

“most human behavior is not chosen deliberatively. Rather, it is habitual” (p. 6)

Character traits have their roots in “culture, tradition, training, custom, ritual, convention, routine, and folklore” (p. 6)

Implications for education

A choice moralist is inclined to prepare students to make choices based on their conception of “good”

A character moralist would develop in students certain character traits that would contribute to creating a community with moral standards (teaches habits of behavior characteristic for that community) -> “good citizens”

Selected ethical issues in special education

Teacher qualities Teacher education curricula and texts Biased assessments Placement policies (institutions, self-contained,

inclusive education) Instructional methods (punishment, aversives) Resources – minority; do they deserve less? Research – no funds to support nonpositivist

research?

Winston, R. B., & Saunders, S. A. (1998). Professional ethics in a risky world. New Directions for Student Services, 82, 77-94.

“Ethical practice in any given real-life situation depends in large measure on the sensitivity and the intelligence of the practitioner, informed by a thorough understanding of the ethical and legal parameters that guide practice” (p. 77)

Conclusion: ethical and legal issues are intertwined & viewed within a framework of culture

Kinds of risks in Special Education

Constitutional breaches = violation of civil rights (e.g. First Amendment – freedom of expression)

Torts = a “civil wrong (…) for which the courts will allow a damage remedy” (Kaplin and Lee, 1997, p. 88)

Negligence Defamation

Special Education

?

?ART OR SCIENCE?

?

Web resources

http://ethics.acusd.edu/ http://www.ethics.org/ http://www.globalethics.org/ http://www.apa.org/ethics/