A day of inquiry: The rise of special education in America

Abstract

The thesis of this work is that Special Education in America has definite origins at the turn of the century. It was born within the National Education Association as oral methodology deaf educators struggled against the monopoly which manual deaf educators had in the field of deaf education in America. "Special Education" was in part a strategy for gaining that foothold in education. It proved to be a strategy with far reaching consequences.

The importance of this work lies with the field of Special Education, a field not known for its interest in history, a field largely caught up in the exegencies of economics and politics, a field which because of its "scientific" mode of operating has heretofore escaped the critical review of both its practices and policies--a review which is long overdue.

This work, then, is only a first step in mounting that review, but a necessary one. The field of American Special Education cannot truly "advance" until it recognizes its own origins. These origins will not be recognized until the field's perspective on "truth" extends beyond "science" into the foundation disciplines.