Special Education in Transition: Behavior Disordered Children in Australia^*

Abstract

Following a brief historical background of special education in Australia, special education services are described by definition, prevalence, and by types of programmes. The problems of special education development at the present time are summarized.

Learning in the shadow of eugenics: Why segregated schooling persists in Australia

“…In 1946, two years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , 3600 students received an education in segregated schools and classes nationally in Australia: some 20 years later this rose dramatically to 19,000 in 1966. By the time the 1975 Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons was introduced, there were 56,965 students attending segregated schools (Magliocca & Magliocca, 1980). Although these settings were a far cry from the isolating and dehumanising residential institutions of the late 19th and early 20th century (Andrews, 1979), many children residing at or attending these still accessed no education.…”