The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is commonly known by teachers as the law that introduced IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) as legal documents for ensuring a FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education) to students with disabilities. The IDEA enabled these students to remain in a general school setting while also receiving special education services. The advances for special education commonly referred to as IDEA evolved over several years of legislative reform to include all that it does today. Originally passed in 1975, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EHA), established access to a FAPE. It mandated the use of assessment in service planning, implementation of IEPs, and broadened parental involvement rights. The four-step process of identification, assessment, IEP creation, and placement was also formally introduced. Most practically, it provided the federal funding to act on these changes. The law as reauthorized as IDEA in 1990. Transition services, assistive technology provision, and the concept of LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) were written in.
Two pivotal amendments for the visually impaired were included in 1997. The provision for O&M (Orientation and Mobility) services along with the requirement that all these students receive braille instruction unless assessment data proved it inappropriate for an individual, enhanced the chances of success for many blind children. In 2004 came the most crucial statute of all. The accessible learning materials mandate obligated schools to provide instructional materials to these children in an accessible format and in a timely manner. While efforts to comply with national special education policies don’t always go as smoothly as students, families, and caring teachers might like, these legal innovations have given thousands of visually impaired youth the tools to succeed at a level that was once beyond their reach.
To learn more, check out this more in depth article on understanding the IDEA for parents of VI children by FamilyConnect.