Oswald Berkhan
Oswald Berkhan was a German physician.
Born in Blankenburg am Harz, he was one of the initiators of the "Idioten-Anstalt Neuerkerode", which was thought to be a sanctuary for disabled and ill people. He was also a dedicated reformer of special education schools.
He was the first person to identify dyslexia, in 1881, though the term "dyslexia" was coined several years later by Rudolf Berlin, who was an ophthalmologist in Stuttgart.
Berkhan died in Braunschweig.- 1863: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Psychiatrie... 1. Heft. Das Irrenwesen der Stadt Braunschweig in den früheren Jahrhunderten
- 1889: Ueber Störungen der Sprache und der Schriftsprache
- 1899: Über den angeborenen und früh erworbenen Schwachsinn
- 1902: Über den angeborenen oder früh sich zeigenden Wasserkopf und seine Beziehungen zur geistigen Entwickelung
- 1910: Das Wunderkind Christian Heinrich Heineken
- 1910: Otto Pöhler, das frühlesende Braunschweiger Kind
Legacy
In 2016, Oswald Foundation, an accessibility technology company named after Berkhan, was established to build products for individuals suffering from disabilities.
