Students With Mild Intellectual Disability at the Turn of the 20th Century in Hungary

Authors:

Pages: 193-198
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/JMAL7251

Abstract:

Initial attempts to conceptually define intellectual disability have played a significant role in the history of education of children with intellectual disabilities. In Hungary, the definition of intellectual disability has undergone many changes, which is related to disciplinary development. Nowadays, in special education, the term “intellectual disability” refers to a complex phenomenon which is reflected, for example, in the significant variability on the level of intellectual functioning. This study focuses on a narrower area of this very complex phenomenon. It makes children with mild intellectual disability – one of the categories of people with intellectual disabilities, the subject of analysis. The research analyzes the contemporary professional terminology and classification of mild intellectual disability on the basis of primary sources. It also examines whom and according to what symptoms professionals classified as a member of this student population, taking into account the scientific conceptions at the turn of the 20th century (for the naming of children with mild intellectual disability, see pp. 19–20). In pedagogical narratives published at that time, the term “weak- talented child” was the most commonly used expression.

Keywords:

history of education and mentalities; pedagogical thinking; students with disabilities; special school

Download

NA