Child neurologists face questions about increases in visibility of children with neurologic disabilities in the public sphere from our patients. I explore a historic perspective on why both diagnosis and visibility have increased over the last 60 years and reflect on our role as advocates for children with neurologic conditions.
US Department of Education. To Assure the Free Appropriate Public Education of All Children with Disabilities: Thirty-five Years of Progress in Implementing IDEA. Washington, DC; 2010.
2.
YarboroughRW. The Learning Disabilities Act of 1969, a commentary. J Learn Disabil. 1969;2(9):438–440.
3.
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 334 F. Supp. 1257 (E.D. Pa. 1971).
4.
Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia, 348 F. Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972).
5.
HeumannJJoinerK. Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. Beacon Press; 2020.
6.
PelkaF. What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement. University of Massachusetts Press; 2012.
7.
YellMLRogersDWRogersE. The legal history of special education: what a long, strange trip it’s been!Remedial Spec Educ.1998;19(4):219–228.
8.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-336, § 12101, 104 Stat. 328 (1990).
9.
NicolaidisC. What can physicians learn from the neurodiversity movement?AMA J Ethics. 2012;14(6):503–510.
10.
HansenSNSchendelDEParnerET. Explaining the increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders: The proportion attributable to changes in reporting practices. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(1):56–62.
11.
O’BrienG. Rosemary Kennedy: The importance of a historical footnote. J Fam Hist. 2004;29(3):225–236.
12.
LosenDJHodsonCKeithMMorrisonKBelwayS. Disabling Inequity: The Urgent Need for Race-Conscious Special Education Reform. UCLA Center for Civil Rights Remedies; 2021.
