s to participate in sports competitions and recreational opportunities. This included the right to try out for interscholastic sports (Dunn and Sherrill 379).
This was followed by passage in 1975 of P.L. 94-142. P.L. 94-142 was also know as the Education For All Handicapped Children Act. This legislation gave each disabled child the right to a free and appropriate public education. This law was the first which required the development and use of an Individualized Educational Program which is known in the educational community by its acronym, IEP. This legislation mandated physical education for all students with disabilities (Dunn and Sherrill 379). It is important to note that this is the only population which the federal government has mandated the teaching of physical education (Dunn and Sherrill 379). It was amended (P.L. 99-457) in 1986 to include children from birth to age 21 and again in 1990 by P.L. 101-476 to become what is now recognized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA.
The Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990 (the ADA), gave all Americans with disabilities the same protection against discrimination and support for greater daily participation in American life that had already been granted to women and minorities in 1964 with passage of the Civil Rights Act (Huber 4). The push for passage of the ADA came from within the community of disabled individuals. Individuals with disabilities are no longer willing to be treated as objects of pity or charity. Individuals with disabilities wanted to participate fully in society. That meant that opportunities for employment, socialization, recreation, and competition needed to be available for everyone equally including individuals with disabilities.
Physical education plays an important part in everyone's daily life. The skills learned in physical education class are intended to encourage life-long healthy habits of fitness ...