Change in Disability Classification: Redrawing the Categorical Boundaries of Special Education in the U.S. and Germany, 1920–2005

How do we make sense of considerable cultural differences and change in disability classification? How are disability’s categorical boundaries being redrawn in the case of special education to realign with shifting paradigms of normality? Based in particular on the case of provided services to students “with special educational needs,” this analysis examines classification systems of student disability and their categorical boundaries in the United States and Germany. Sketching the origins and evolution of special education categories from 1920 to 2005, the comparison shows categorical boundaries have been redrawn, giving rise to new groups of students.