A Descriptive Study of Twenty Cases of Children Having Convulsive Disorders Who Were Studied at the Bureau of Child Guidance
Abstract
In the ancient Arabian, Egyptian and Hebrew writings epilepsy is referred to as the “sacred disease”. From the very descriptions of the seizures and the nature of the disease there can be little doubt that convulsions plagued mankind many thousands of years before written accounts were kept. About 400 B.C. Hippocrates alone among the ancients spoke out that epilepsy was not a “sacred disease” but a true malady. The epileptic through the centuries that followed, however, continued to be looked upon as peculiar, possessed and deteriorated. Today in spite of the progress that has been made in the treatment of epilepsy or Convulsive Disorders the public stands in need of education concerning both its medical and social aspects. Misunderstanding regarding the nature of the disease, the importance of the hereditary background, and the outlook are perhaps the most common. Epilepsy viewed in terms of its convulsive seizures and amplified through emotional and social reactions, is indeed distressing. To the child handicapped by the disease itself his lot is not a pleasant one.
Subject Area
Social studies education|History|Social work
Recommended Citation
Thomas, John, "A Descriptive Study of Twenty Cases of Children Having Convulsive Disorders Who Were Studied at the Bureau of Child Guidance" (1956). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30670793.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30670793
