The Historical Precursor to ADHD
This difference might seem obvious enough, but up until the twentieth century, willpower and intelligence were often considered indistinguishable.
.. Doctors across the country conducted prevalence studies, determining that at least 4–6 percent of all children could be classified as unfit for normal schooling. The commission’s report led to the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, which established a compulsory system of state-funded specialized education along three grades of impairment: Idiocy (“unable to guard themselves against common physical dangers”); Imbecility (“incapable of managing themselves … or … of being taught to do so”); and Feeble-Mindedness (“involves disability of mind of such a nature and extent as to make them … incapable of receiving education at school”). The last grade was the vaguest and also the largest; it included the borderline category of children who, like those studied by George Frederic Still, possessed standard enough academic ability but couldn’t pay attention or behave in the classroom.
.. “Defective children learn more through their hands than their books,” he wrote.