Beginning of Essay
In 1975, the Handicapped Act and subsequent law would forever change the public education system. Handicapped children would be included in mainstream public school life beginning in the elementary level. Inclusion meant that handicapped children would no longe ....

Middle of Essay
.... Newscasts began to broadcast scenes of bed after bed of small children left alone in a crib all day in a dark and cheerless room with no one but themselves for company. There were no toys in the rooms, the children were neglected day after day, and most died at a very young age, much to the relief of their families. These newscasts also told of other horror stories. Finn (1996) writes that children were abused, burned and beaten by institutional caretakers, but the alternative was perhaps even worse. Horror stories emerged about handicapped children being locked up in attics and cellars by their families, neglected and without food; the families w ....