Persons with disabilities have, throughout history, been exposed to
segregation, harassment, and brutal maltreatment. Few opportunities existed whereby
meaningful community involvement was a viable option. Over the course of centuries,
little changed for far too many. Legislation rapidly snowballed over the past hundred
years, decreasing persecution and, even more recently promoting individual rights and
access rather than minimizing mistreatment. School legislation and compulsory
education have arguably had more impact on improving outcomes for youth with
disabilities than any other political or social realm, and have recently moved from the
older philosophy of mainstreaming to the current model of inclusion. This reflects a
significant improvement, but has to be fully implemented in vivo or in vitro.
Keywords: Compulsory education, Inclusion, Least restrictive environment,
Mainstreaming, Medical model, Normality, Self-efficacy.
