In the 18th and 19th centuries a number of asylums had been built for those declared insane, but little was done for those with severe learning difficulties. In 1840, Andrew Reed had confided in his Journal the hope that he might one day be able to help those whom society deemed less than human, but of whom he firmly insisted ‘the Divine image is stamped upon all’. This conviction of the fundamental human dignity of those with severe learning difficulties was a crucial motivation.