Oswald Berkhan (19 March 1834 – 15 February 1917) was a German physician.
Born in Blankenburg am Harz, he was one of the initiators of the "Idioten-Anstalt Neuerkerode" (institution for people with mental illnesses), which was thought to be a sanctuary for disabled and ill people. He was also a dedicated reformer of special education schools.
He was the first person to identify dyslexia, in 1881, though the term "dyslexia" was coined several years later (in 1887) by Rudolf Berlin, who was an ophthalmologist in Stuttgart.
Berkhan died in Braunschweig.
Publications (selected) 1863: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Psychiatrie ... 1. Heft. Das Irrenwesen der Stadt Braunschweig in den früheren Jahrhunderten 1889: Ueber Störungen der Sprache und der Schriftsprache 1899: Über den angeborenen und früh erworbenen Schwachsinn 1902: Über den angeborenen oder früh sich zeigenden Wasserkopf (Hydrocephalus internus) und seine Beziehungen zur geistigen Entwickelung 1910: Das Wunderkind Christian Heinrich Heineken 1910: Otto Pöhler, das frühlesende Braunschweiger Kind
Legacy In 2016, Oswald Foundation, an accessibility technology company named after Berkhan, was established to build products for individuals suffering from disabilities.
See also History of dyslexia research
References
External links "Oswald Berkhan" in Economypoint (includes list of articles)