 A paper presented to the Society of Clinical Psychologists hypothesized that Jackson had Asperger syndrome, although other possible explanations, such as a herniated diaphragm, exist.Jackson suffered a number of ailments, for which he sought relief via contemporary practices of his day including hydrotherapy, popular in America at that time, visiting establishments at Oswego, New York (1850) and Round Hill, Massachusetts (1860) although with little evidence of success.Jackson also suffered a significant hearing loss in both of his ears as a result of his prior service in the U.S. Army, as an artillery officer.