one historical perspective on developmental disability

[frotz]

I was going through some old knitting patterns and found an interesting article from the late 1940's on the back of one.

Some of the language is harsh and some of the embedded assumptions are problematic, but the overall attitude and especially the conclusions are surprisingly good and I find them a good reminder of "hey, wait, people's heads haven't always been completely up their asses!" (Actually, the lead-in text comes across as very harsh indeed, though I don't think that was the original intent.)

Here's the lead-in:

"People in the Making No. 17: The Backward Child"

It wasn't until Jane was nearly eight years old that we knew definitely that she was not merely very stupid, but that her stupidity was such that she could never take her place alone in the world.

Here's the whole thing as an image (which may take a moment to load); should anyone wish a typed version let me know. If anyone recognizes the format, I'd also be really interested in a better citation than "page 39 of some 40's English 'women's magazine'".

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(If you're curious about the pattern content, it (or at least some of it) is here.)

Comments

[gale_storm]

That is indeed one historical perspective on developmental disability, and I feel almost like saying that it's backward.

At any rate, it's an interesting read, and I've no idea what the name of the magazine might have been.