Institution news
Publication of William Twinings pamphlet: Some Account of cretinism, and the institution for its cure…
Some account of cretinism, and the institution for its cure, on the Abendberg near Interlachan, Switzerland. The importance of this is five-fold: (1) It brought Guggenbuhl’s work at Abendberg to the attention of a British audience; (2); It suggested that ‘cretinism’ (and by extension, idiocy and imbecility) was curable; (3) It described the nature of the treatment that was required; (4) It drew attention to the importance of the physical environment as the necessary context for effective treatment; (5) It pointed to the need for intervention to begin at an early age (in Guggenbuhl’s case before the age of 6).