Romanian special education finds its beginnings in the second half of the nineteenth century at the same time as the constitution of the modern state and the efforts of gradual opening to new European reforming ideas. For this period it is worth mentioning the Shelter for children and old people set up by Elena Cuza (1862), the wife of Ruler Al. I. Cuza. If at the beginning the entire activity was focused almost exclusively on social assistance and protection of disabled persons (with or without disabilities), obvious concerns for their recovery and education became more and more present towards the beginning of the twentieth century. In general, the founders of the Romanian special educational system studied in France and Germany. Therefore, many ideas were imported from these countries and adjusted to fit.