Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 200-201. (Budapest, 2007)
TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - FORRAI, Judit: History of a Special Healing Method for Motor-disordered Children: Conductive Education - A mozgásszervi betegségben szenvedő gyermekek egyik sajátos gyógymódja, a konduktív nevelés története
liver oil, yeast and carrots. Later in the spring the institute could get some vegetables and sometimes fruits too. The kids felt they were in heaven: they were clean, and warm, and well fed. Small details never disturbed them, never had enough chairs, and the tables on the corridor served for dining, writing, learning, playing, and everything else. At the beginning these uneducated girls provided all the support and care the kids needed. They ate with the kids, they slept in the same room, and they sang and played together. The girls had no home outside his small place, kids and caretakers all shared the same life. Pető was instructing not only us, but these girls as well. They were the forerunners of the sophisticated conductors of later days, who would be required to have a high school graduation, a successful entrance exam before they could even think about setting foot into the Pető Institute. But at the beginning all Pető wanted was a good, absorbing head, a good, attentive heart, and lots of committed hard work. Pető closely observed every child, and based on these observations, he compiled individual series of exercise. He regularly controlled, corrected, and improved these series. Originally, there were two individual, one hour long sessions daily, and it happened only later that during individual sessions work began in groups. His attitude toward the kids was a kind of strong suggestion. He was very open-minded, and was always ready to refine his method. He demonstrated everything with his own body, quietly counting or rhythmically telling the text to enhance the concentration. He kept his eyes closed, but there was no tiny detail escaping his vision. The strength of his personality was tremendous. The kids simply got attached to him, and tried to do their best only to please him. As the time went by, more and more families turned up with their physically disabled children, because it was the only place in the country where something effective was happening to them. In many cases the family members also got interested and involved in the work, thus more and more individual and group sessions could be provided. During this period, the typical Pető schedule of the days was formed: exercises, sing along, meals, rest, later learning and play filled the days in the regular rhythm and everything became part of the whole treatment. The intensity of this program brought early results in these previously never treated children. Even experts from abroad paid attention to these unexpected results. In the country there were not many institutes like this, but children in need of special education even more. According to a survey in 1947 the special education network, number of patients and their grouping were the following. 56 A./ Institutes I. 1 Institute for the Disabled 1 Department for paralysed patients II. 9 Homes for the deaf and dumb 1 Technical Occupational centre for the deaf and dumb 2 Homes for the blind 3 Supporting and occupational Institutes for the blind 1 Institute for the speech impaired 56 Vértes, József O.: Hungarian Special Education in 1948 and today, in: A Köznevelés évkönyve. Ed. by Kiss, Árpád. Budapest, MVKM, 1948. 266.
