Historical perspective on mental retardation.
Kanner (1964) produced a history on the care of mentally retarded people in society in which he stated that professionals showed no interest in mental retardation until the early 1800s. The current article contains the first English translation of a 1614 text by a physician, Montalto, that reveals a coherent attempt to deal with the concept of mental retardation from the viewpoint of diagnosis, prognosis, and cure.
D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000266:history*; D011174:Portugal