Keywords
Pennsylvania, institutionalization, special education, IDEA, intellectual disability, PARC
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between white parent advocates in Pennsylvania and public interest lawyers, whose litigation efforts legitimized the construction of an implicitly white disabled class in the mid-twentieth century. This analysis sheds light on the ways in which school reform became a key element in the simultaneous construction and renegotiation of intellectual disability and race in the postwar era, and foregrounded the adoption of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Gabriel, Emma (2026) "Getting a Special Education: Parents, Lawyers, and the Politics of Disability in Postwar Pennsylvania," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 7 (2), 6-54. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol7/iss2/1
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Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Disability Law Commons, Education Law Commons, Oral History Commons