Oxford LibGuides: Disability History Resources: Learning Disabilities

Key resources

Key resources
Recommended books

Langdon Down Museum of Learning Disabilities
It shows exhibitions about the work of Dr John Langdon Down, Normansfield and the Royal Earlswood Asylum. It is owned and managed by the Down’s Syndrome Association.
Discovering the history of learning disability
An article for the National Archives by Simon Jarrett. It explores the history of people with learning disabilities using court records, government files, parish records, prints, art and even jokes to uncover often surprising information, reaching back to medieval times.
The Inclusive Archive of Learning Disability History
A website where people share their stories about learning disability history.
An angel with Down syndrome in a sixteenth century Flemish Nativity painting
This article identifies a 16th-century Flemish Nativity painting in which one angelic figure appears distinctly different from other individuals in the painting with an appearance of Down syndrome. This may be one of the earliest European representations of Down syndrome.

The History of Mental Retardation by Marvin Rosen (Editor); Gerald R. Clark (Editor); Marvin S. Kivitz (Editor)
ISBN: 0839108273
Publication Date: 1975
Caring for the Retarded in America by Leland Bell; Peter L. Tyor
ISBN: 0313209774
Publication Date: 1984
US
From idiocy to mental deficiency : historical perspectives on people with learning disabilities by David Wright and Anne Digby (eds)
ISBN: 041511215x
Publication Date: 1996

Learning disability vs specific learning difficulties?

Much of the terminology surrounding disabilities is fluid and can change over time as social attitudes and medical understanding of conditions change. For the purposes of this LibGuide, we're distinguishing between learning disabilities and learning difficulties in the following way:

learning disability is a condition which affects learning and intelligence across all areas of life (e.g. Down's Syndrome)
specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) are conditions which create an obstacle to a specific form of learning, but does not affect the overall IQ of an individual (e.g. Dyslexia)

Other terms to consider:

Apraxia
Clumsy Child Syndrome
Congenital Maladroitness
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD)
Disorder of Sensory Integration
Minimal brain dysfunction

Disability History Resources: Learning Disabilities

Introduction

Key resources

Learning disability vs specific learning difficulties?