History of Medicine Jean Marc Gaspard Itard - 1774-1838

Here is the history of French physician and otologist, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (1774-1838). As physician for the Institute for Deaf Mutes in Paris, Dr. Itard became responsible for the care and civilization of the "wild boy of Aveyron," also known as, "The Wild Child" of the Truffaut movie. Their encounter became the first carefully recorded effort to train a culturally deprived individual on a one-to-one basis, or perhaps on any basis. Dr. Itard's work lead directly through Dr. Sequin and Dr. Montessori to us today. If we now stand on the threshold of restoring hearing by implantation to the totally deaf, then the results we expect and the training programs we must follow will naturally take us back to the work of this physician of the French Revolution.