Disability and Education History Tour - Clio

Entries on This Tour

1. Ivy Street School

The Ivy Street School in Brookline is a private school that serves students “overcoming” barriers of Autism Spectrum Disorder, behavioral health diagnoses, brain injury and other neurological conditions. It also offers transition planning. Equipped as a residential facility, Ivy Street School’s goal is to “help students develop self-management and executive functioning skills so that they can lead full lives as adults” (https://www.ivystreetschool.org). Serving the Brookline community since 1993, this facility hosts modern technology and employs empirically supported practices to help students. The Ivy Street School also aims to use the city of Boston as a classroom, showing the advancement in education of students with disabilities from merely containing or simply rejecting them from school to incorporating “innovative, hands-on experiences.

2. Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion School

Currently, the Henderson school in Dorchester is an inclusion school in the Boston Public School system, meaning that students with disabilities learn in classrooms along with their non-disabled peers. Considering histories of students with disabilities not being allowed to attend public schools or being cast aside as “unteachable” within schools, this inclusionary concept exemplifies growth in the areas of civil rights and education for students with disabilities. Though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that students have a right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) learn in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), the Henderson school prides itself upon its inclusionary principles and models how to best provide students with disabilities an environment in which to thrive. Approximately 33% of students at the Henderson school have disabilities, a much higher rate than that of the national average.

3. Perkins School for the Blind

The Perkins School for the Blind, founded in 1829 by Dr. John Dix Fisher, is the first school for the blind in the U.S. Fisher was inspired by his trip to Paris visiting the National Institute for the Blind and hoped to establish an institution which improves the life of people with disabilities. There are about 200 students on campus, and the school dedicates to help young people with blindness and deafblindness by providing them with education and skills they need in daily life. It also holds community service program, courses, and training for students and professionals.

4. Dorothea Dix Burial Site

Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist who established the first generation of American mental asylums. She provided treatment for the mentally ill and promoted the conditions of the hospitals for them. In 40 years, she submitted reports and changed the poor conditions of the state hospitals for mentally ill in 15 U.S. states and even in Canada. Throughout her whole life, she dedicated herself to the improvement of the living conditions and treatments of the mentally ill.

5. McLean Hospital

At the time, however, McLean was considered one of the best treatment facility for people with disabilities. McLean, the oldest hospital in the Northeast, has historically been ahead of its time in terms of treating people with disabilities simply due to its distinction as aristocratic and serving mainly wealthy families. Famous “inmates” (generally after conditions improved) include: Sylvia Plath (author of The Bell Jar) in 1953, Susanna Kaysen (author of Girl, Interrupted in 1960s), Anne Sexton in the 1970s, and Steven Tyler in 1985. Mclean is now a leader in the field of psychiatric treatment. McLean gives patients good treatments, focusing on public education and scientific researches as well.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Disability and Education History Tour

Created by WR150: Civil Rights and Education (Boston University) on October 3rd 2018, 6:41:51 pm.

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Description

Education for students with disabilities has a long and harsh history. Up until the 1970s, there were virtually no provisions for students with disabilities. Schools often did not allow students with disabilities into public schools, and if they did, students with disabilities were often placed in ill-equipped classrooms to basically placate the families of students with disabilities. Specialized schools, such as Perkins School for the Blind, did start to change the stigma around educating students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted in the 1970s, which provided students with any ability access to a public education. Included in this tour are examples of public figures that championed for the civil rights of those with disabilities, examples of specialty facilities for people with disabilities, and schools with programs of varying inclusion for students with disabilities.

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