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The Problem of Feeble-Mindedness. 



G. S. Bliss. 



The first recorded attempt to do something for feeble-mindedness 

 occurred in the year 1800, when Dr. Itard, a French physician, tried to 

 educate a so-called "wild boy" found in the woods. The attempt failed 

 because the boy was feeble-minded, and was followed in France by several 

 abortive attempts to educate feeble-minded persons. 



The first successful attempt in this direction was made by the School 

 for the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, Conn . in 1836. They took several 

 feeble-minded children and succeeded in training them a little in school 

 work and in forming better habits of life. 



In 1846 Dr. Seguin, a pupil of Dr. Itard, opened a successful school 

 for mental defectives in France. This attempt succeeded so well that other 

 schools were soon founded for this most unfortunate class. In 1S48 Mas- 

 sachusetts started the first state school in the United States. This was 

 followed by other States, and in 1879 Indiana established her present 

 school. 



All these schools were started with the idea that mental defect was 

 curable, and that the idiot or imbecile could be educated to become a self- 

 supporting and dependable citizen. This we now know to be an impos- 

 sibility, and the fact is coming to be more generally recognized that there 

 is no cure for mental defect. It is a condition, not a disease. 



Insanity is a disease attacking a developed brain and is often cured; 

 feeble-mindedness is never cured, but may be greatly relieved by proper 

 training and care. 



There are between 5.000 and 6,000 feeble-minded persons in Indiana 

 i et ding institutional care today, and only about one-fourth of these are 

 receiving it. These people are at large, reproducing defectives in an ever- 

 increasing amount, like the waves from a pebble thrown into a lake. If 

 we are to protect the coming generations of our sons and daughters, grand- 

 sons and granddaughters from this growing burden, we must wake up in 

 the condition and do something about it. 



