Hildred Schuell’s Biography
Hildred Schuell was born in the year 1906 in South Bend, Indiana. She earned a BA from Milwaukee-Downer College in 1928. Schuell relocated to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana, and worked in public schools doing experimental language arts work. Schuell graduated with an MA from Middlebury College in 1940 and a Ph.D. from the State University of Iowa in 1946 (Minnesota State University (MNSU), n.d.). Miss Schuell was a public school teacher in Indiana from 1928 to 1948. Generally, Schuell did not know much about aphasia during her early education and career period.
Contribution to the Field of Aphasiology
Schuell’s intense and broad contribution to the field of aphasiology started around 1948. The study of aphasia, including its linguistic, psychological, and neurological elements, is known as aphasiology. In 1948, she was named director of the aphasia division of the neurological service at the Veterans Administration Hospital (Minneapolis) (MNSU, n.d.). In 1950, she was named professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Schuell became widely recognized for aphasia research, assessment, and treatment over a 20-year period.
Early Contribution to Aphasiology
Most of Hildred Schuell’s contributions started before she was even recognized for her work. In 1945, Schuell published an article in the Quarterly Journal of Speech titled “Speech Development at the intermediate level.” The primary purpose of this study was to examine middle children’s language development about speech demands as a basis for selecting learning resources (Schuell, 1945). In 1965 together with James Jenkins, they published “Acquiescence response set in Aphasics.” This research aims to describe the acquiescence set that a group of aphasic patients exhibited (Jenkins & Schuell, 1965). Generally, this was crucial in understanding the social situation and comprehension challenges for those with mental conditions and the deaf.
Major Contribution “Differential Diagnosis of Aphasia With the Minnesota Test”
The University of Minnesota Press released “Differential Diagnosis of Aphasia With the Minnesota Test” by Hildred Schuell and Joyce W. Sefer in 1973, becoming one of Schuell’s most significant works. The book’s goal was to use normative data to distinguish aphasia from normal levels of language function. Schuell’s approach is primarily practical in that it categorizes the condition for treatment and prognosis instead of analyzing aphasic syndromes to understand brain activity better (Schuell & Sefer, 1973). Essentially, this implies that, while no one denies the approaches’ utility or humanitarianism, many neurologists would be disappointed by their absence of intellectualism. Schuell’s contribution, “Minnesota Test for Differential Diagnosis of Aphasia,” is still in use even today.
References
Jenkins, J. J., & Schuell, H. (1965). Acquiescence response set in aphasics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 70(2), 111-113. Web.
Minnesota State University (MNSU). (n.d.). Foremothers of the speech pathology profession. Web.
Schuell, H. (1945). Speech development at the intermediate level. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 31(2), 223-226. Web.
Schuell, H., & Sefer, J. W. (1973). Differential diagnosis of aphasia with the Minnesota test. University of Minnesota Press.