The Child with Special Needs

In this remarkable collection of Dr. König’s letters and essays, he considers and discusses the fundamentals of special needs education. He shows that there are three core aspects of a successful holistic approach to healing. First is a positive social environment, which in the context of Camphill arises through small family units of caregivers and children. Second, the caregivers’ work is based on insightful understanding of the nature and potential of each disability. And third, medical treatment it imbued with courage to keep the faith that the impossible can be made possible.

I think that the range of topics covered touches on just about every question that arises out of the need for helping those with developmental difficulties, and as such touches the very heart of the human condition.  There are also several black and white photos of König with various children he worked with – to see them is to also see the warmth he had for them, and they for him.  To then be able to, as it were, hear his voice through his writing and see him with the children he served conveys so very much about the nature of therapeutic education and the role love has to play in it.  Very highly recommended.

Contents:

Foreword by Peter Selg

Introduction: Karl König – Curative Teacher and Physician by Georg von Arnim

To Parents

Letter to the Parents of Camphill at Lake Constance

To the Mother of a Down’s Syndrome Child

The Task and Ethics of Curative Education

The Purpose and Value of Curative-Educational Work

The Care and Education of Handicapped Children

Basic Issues of Curative-Educational Diagnosis and Therapy

Curative Education, Modern Civilization and Social Community

The Three Foundations of Curative Education

Modern Curative Education as a Social Issue

Curative Education as a Social Task

The History and Future of Curative Education

Mignon: The History of Curative Education

Adalbert Stifter and Curative Education

Euthanasia

The Problem of Euthanasia

Euthanasia as a Challenge to Society Today