ABSTRACT
Historically, individuals with significant cognitive disabilities SCD were thought to be unable to be active participants in their communities. Goldberg and Cruickshank in their classic debate raised the question about the responsibility of public schools in educating children with SCD. Sontag, Burke, and York commented that there was no systematic plan for developing services for this population and organizations in special education or mental retardation had no interest or were ambivalent about the benefits of educational programming for this population. Up until the late 1940s people with SCD were thought to be "untrainable". During this time period, care for individuals with SCD did not include constructive efforts to change behavior. Meaningful participation in the general education community is dependent on two elements: social inclusion and academic participation. General curriculum access is an extension of students with SCD being socially included in general education environments.
