History of Education and Autism

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, was set up in 1975 to guarantee that all students that have disabilities would be provided with a public education (Brock, Stephen, and Jimerson, 2006).
The IDEA mandates that students with disabilities not only be provided with a free public education that is appropriate, but also within the least restrictive environment (Yell, 2005).
The IDEA only requires mainstreaming when appropriate.
The IDEA reformed the American education policy.
Autism was added as a specific special education eligibility category in 1991, by the Department of Education (Brock, Stephen, and Jimerson, 2006).
Students with Autism that served under the IDEA had increased more than 600 percent between 1994 and 2003 (Brock, Stephen, and Jimerson, 2006).