History of Learning Difficulties
A Two Hundred Years History of Learning Disabilities Introduction:
Educators have been perplexed for generations by the inability of some students to succeed in, or even comprehend, assigned classroom studies. Some students do well in academic studies, while others must struggle to achieve even mediocre success.
Some students find schoolwork assignments easy to complete, while others find the experience to be a nightmare. Some students are successful in elementary and secondary educational levels and proceed on to higher degrees of education; others become frustrated with a public school system that constantly fails them and drop out at the earliest possible moment, simply to end the painful experience. Although many explanations can be offered to explain why some students do not perform satisfactorily, an underlying learning disability (LD) is often the culprit. The most common forms of LD are dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and short term memory dysfunction.
History of LD:
Although the United States federal government became involved in LD through task forces, legislation, and funding during the 1960s and 1970s LD is not a new concept. It can be traced back to the early l800s.
The earliest believed recognized case of LD occurred in 1802 when Franz Joseph Gall-a German-French anatomist and physiologist and Napoleon’s surgeon-recognized an association between brain injury in soldiers and subsequent expressive language disorders. In 1822, Gall published a book entitled Sur les Fonctions, in which he outlined his belief the brain was divided into twenty-seven separate "organs," each corresponding to a discrete human faculty. He believed one of those separate organs controlled the memory of things; the memory of facts; educability; perfectibility. Therefore, any imperfection in those processes must be due to a cranial fault.
In 1877, Adolph Kassmaul-a German physician-coined the
Educators have been perplexed for generations by the inability of some students to succeed in, or even comprehend, assigned classroom studies. Some students do well in academic studies, while others must struggle to achieve even mediocre success.
Some students find schoolwork assignments easy to complete, while others find the experience to be a nightmare. Some students are successful in elementary and secondary educational levels and proceed on to higher degrees of education; others become frustrated with a public school system that constantly fails them and drop out at the earliest possible moment, simply to end the painful experience. Although many explanations can be offered to explain why some students do not perform satisfactorily, an underlying learning disability (LD) is often the culprit. The most common forms of LD are dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and short term memory dysfunction.
History of LD:
Although the United States federal government became involved in LD through task forces, legislation, and funding during the 1960s and 1970s LD is not a new concept. It can be traced back to the early l800s.
The earliest believed recognized case of LD occurred in 1802 when Franz Joseph Gall-a German-French anatomist and physiologist and Napoleon’s surgeon-recognized an association between brain injury in soldiers and subsequent expressive language disorders. In 1822, Gall published a book entitled Sur les Fonctions, in which he outlined his belief the brain was divided into twenty-seven separate "organs," each corresponding to a discrete human faculty. He believed one of those separate organs controlled the memory of things; the memory of facts; educability; perfectibility. Therefore, any imperfection in those processes must be due to a cranial fault.
In 1877, Adolph Kassmaul-a German physician-coined the