Public Law 99-457: a new challenge to early intervention

Congress enacted and President Reagan signed into law on October 8, 1986, P.L. 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments. These amendments reauthorize the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) and include a rigorous national agenda pertaining to more and better services to young special needs children and their families. This agenda was fueled by the recent recognition of the needs and competence of infants, the importance of early life experiences and by the documentation of the benefits of early intervention and preschool services. P.L. 99-457 recognized the unique role of families in the development of handicapped children. The most sweeping changes to EHA since P.L. 94-142, these amendments expanded the provisions of P.L. 94-142 to include handicapped infants and preschool children. The enactment of P.L. 99-457 provides a challenge to the filed of education of the deaf and to early childhood educators to re-examine basic assumptions about the range of services, the professionals providing those services, and the role of families who have children with hearing impairments.