 When she discovered the works of Jean Itard and Édouard Séguin they gave her a new direction in thinking and influenced her to focus on children with learning difficulties.Also in 1897, Montessori audited the University courses in pedagogy and read "all the major works on educational theory of the past two hundred years".In 1897 Montessori spoke on societal responsibility for juvenile delinquency at the National Congress of Medicine in Turin.