Abstract
The chapter introduces the history of approaches to people with mental disabilities. The gradual cognition of mental disabilities developed by a special pedagogical paradigm, as we define it today, is based, in addition to the philosophical reflection of the soul and body, mainly on the thought traditions of exact knowledge of the human brain in the medical sciences.
A step-by-step examination of the brain tried to explain the differences that existed in the laws of human thought, perception and experience. The close proximity of medicine and special pedagogy is obvious, although the relationship between these fields has undergone a number of changes and has always influenced the genesis of our attitudes towards people, who are vulnerable with mental differences.
The most basic "therapy" does not consist in medication and surgical treatment, but in the creation of suitably adapted, primarily educational conditions for the meaningful existence of people with mental disabilities.