Autism, Maladjustment and Special Schools in the Mid-20th Century

While autism and neurodiversity have received much attention in academia and more widely, research on their history has been largely the preserve of journalists and disability activists. Similarly, the historic diagnosis of 'maladjustment' has begun to acquire interest among scholars in relation to disability history, but few connections have been made to autism on a wide scale, despite maladjustment being a historic umbrella term for a variety of conditions, including those concerning neurodivergence and mental health.

This seminar will discuss a residential special school specifically for maladjusted children in Birmingham, originally known as Monyhull and later renamed St. Francis Residential School, which operated throughout the 1940s and 1950s. A brief history of the school will be presented, followed by explanations of how the school operated, including what was offered in terms of curriculum and medical treatments. Key to this seminar will be case studies of pupils who attended Monyhull/St. Francis, and what their experiences of special education during the immediate post-war period can tell us about the crucial early history of autism, and the history of disability in the UK generally. 

Laura Brownhill is a PhD student at the University of Wolverhampton, researching British perceptions of maladjustment and autism between 1940 and 2000. She is also currently working as a research assistant at the University of Warwick, aiding with the creation of a research tool that will help scholars engaging with participatory research involving autistic people.