,,what ,,the ,,mother ,,of ,a ,,deaf ,,child ,,ought ,,to ,,know ,,by ,,john ,,dutton ,,wright ,,founder ,,and ,,principal ,,of ,,the ,,wright ,,oral ,,school ,,for ,,the ,,deaf1 ,,new ,,york ,,city2 ,,collaborator ,,of ,,the ,,laryngo- ,,scope ,,and ,,the ,,volta ,,review2 ,,director ,,of ,,the ,,american ,,association ,,to ,,promote ,,the ,,teaching ,,of ,,speech ,,to ,,the ,,deaf2 ,,author ,,of ,,educa- ,,tional ,,needs ,,of ,,the ,,deaf1 ,,for ,,the ,,guidance ,,of ,,physicians ,illustration3 ,logo ,,new ,,york ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,company ,,publishers ,copyright1 #aiae1 by ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,company ,all rights reserved1 including that of translation into foreign languages ,march1 #aiae ,,to ,,my ,,wife ,,at ,,whose ,,suggestion ,,this ,,little ,,book ,,was ,,written ,,in ,,order ,,that ,,mothers ,,may ,,do ,,all ,,in ,,their ,,power ,,for ,,their ,,deaf ,,children ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,,preface ix-xix ,i4 ,,facing ,,the ,,facts #a ,,ii4 ,,how ,,shall ,,the ,,mother ,,begin ,,her ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,work8 #e ,,iii4 ,,how ,,shall ,,the ,,mother ,,get ,,into ,,communication ,,with ,,her ,,deaf ,,child8 #ac ,,iv4 ,,what ,,about ,,the ,,baby',s ,,speech8 #bj ,v4 ,,developing ,,the ,,mental ,,faculties #bb ,,vi4 ,,developing ,,the ,,lungs #cj ,,vii4 ,,the ,,cultivation ,,of ,,creative ,,imagination #cb ,,viii4 ,,further ,,tests ,,of ,,hearing #cd ,,ix4 ,,the ,,development ,,of ,,residual ,,hearing #ch ,x4 ,,developing ,,the ,,power ,,of ,,lip-,,reading #dc ,,xi4 ,,forming ,,character #dg ,,xii4 ,,cultivating ,,the ,,social ,,instinct #ej ,,xiii4 ,,something ,,about ,,schools ,,and ,,methods #ec ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,preservation ,,of ,,speech4 ,,when ,,deafness ,,results ,,from ,,accident ,,or ,,illness ,,after ,,infancy #eh ,,xv4 ,,teaching ,,lip-,,reading #fa ,,xvi4 ,,school ,,age #fc ,,xvii4 ,,organized ,,efforts ,,by ,,parents ,,to ,,obtain ,,better ,,educational ,,conditions #fe ,,xviii4 ,a ,,personal ,,matter ,,for ,,each ,,parent #fh ,,xix4 ,,day ,,schools #gb ,,xx4 ,,the ,,deaf ,,child ,,at ,,five ,,years ,,of ,,age #gc ,,xxi4 ,,schools ,,for ,,the ,,hearing ,,and ,,private ,,governesses #ge ,,xxii4 ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,beginning #hj ,,xxiii4 ,,avoid ,,the ,,young ,,and ,,inexperienced ,,teacher #hb ,,xxiv4 ,,on ,,entering ,,school #hc ,,xxv4 ,,during ,,the ,,school ,,period #ih ,,xxvi4 ,,during ,,vacation #aja ,,xxvii4 ,,some ,,nots #ajg ,,preface ,the mother of a little deaf child once wrote as follows3 ,as a mother of a deaf child1 and one whose experience has been unusual only in that it has been more fortunate than that of the average mother so situated1 ,i want to place before you 7the teachers of the deaf7 a plea for the education of the parents of little deaf children4 ,while you are laboring for the education of the deaf1 and for their sakes are training teachers to carry on the work1 there are1 in almost every home that shelters a little deaf child1 blunders being made that will retard his development and hinder your work for years to come--blunders that a little timely advice might prevent4 ,we parents are not willfully ignorant1 not always stupidly so2 but that we are in most cases densely so1 there can be no doubt4 ,can you for the moment put yourselves into our place8 ,suppose you are just the ordinary ,american parents1 perhaps living far from the center of things4 ,you know in a hazy way that there are deaf and blind and other afflicted people--perhaps you have seen some of them4 ,now1 into your home comes disease or a sudden awakening to the meaning of existing conditions1 and you find that your child is deaf4 ,at first your thought is of physicians2 they fail you4 ,advice from friends and advertisements from quacks pour in upon you2 still you find no comfort and no help4 ,you stop talking to the child4 ,what is the use8 ,he cannot hear you6 ,you pity him--oh1 infinitely6 ,and your pity takes the form of indulgence4 ,you love him and you long to understand him2 but you cannot interpret him and he feels the change1 the helplessness in your attitude toward him4 ,you try one thing after another1 floundering desperately in your effort to discover what radical step must be taken to meet this emergency4 ,after a time you seize upon the idea that seems to you the best4 ,probably it is to wait until he is six or seven and then put him into an institution4 ,but while you wait for school age to arrive1 you lose that close touch with the soul of your child which may be established only in these early years1 for you have no adequate means of communication with him--no way to win his confidence4 ,soon the child has passed this stage1 and no school can ever give him what you might and would have given had you known how4 ,you who are trained teachers of the deaf can hardly realize the need of advice about matters perfectly obvious to ,,you2 but the need exists4 ,may ,i tell you from my own experience a few of the things about which you might advise--you1 who know6 ,in the first place1 suggest to parents that they make simple tests of their children's hearing2 and tell them how and why those who are partially deaf should be helped4 ,then tell them to talk1 and talk1 and talk1 to their little deaf ones--to say everything and say it naturally4 ,and tell them some things in particular that should be said--commands1 etc41 and certainly ',i love you4' ,tell them to speak in whole sentences4 ,give them an idea of the possibilities of lip-reading4 ,tell them that by the expression of the face they may convey to the deaf child the interest1 approval1 disapproval1 etc41 that they would express to a hearing child in the tone of voice4 ,tell them that there is rarely an untrained person who can safely meddle with articulation4 ,tell them that it is not true that all deaf children are bad2 that the deaf must learn obedience as others do4 ,tell them the many things which you wish your pupils had learned before they entered school4 ,only this ,i beg of you--tell them6 ,,lucile ,m4 ,,moore4 ,for the sake of presenting the ideas contained in this little book in a somewhat systematic manner it was best to arrange them on the supposition that they would come to the notice of the mothers while their children were yet less than two years of age4 ,in many cases1 however1 this will not be the case4 ,when1 therefore1 the child is three1 four1 or five years old when this falls into the hands of the mother1 it would still be well if she carried out the suggestions in the order in which they are here arranged4 ,with the maturity of mind and body that comes with the added years1 the child can pass through the earlier stages of the training much more rapidly than can be the case with the baby4 ,nevertheless1 the preliminary steps should not be omitted4 ,a child of four can be carried in six months through the exercises that occupied two years when begun with the child of twelve months1 but the older child should not be started with exercises suggested for the years after two4 ,mothers of deaf children cannot be expected to be trained teachers of the deaf4 ,it would be useless1 and1 in fact1 often unfortunate1 to ask them to attempt to teach articulation to their children4 ,even for them to teach the children to write would usually be undesirable because the greatest gain from the mother's efforts comes from the early establishment of the speech-reading habit and entire dependence upon it4 ,it is a very great help to have this habit fixed before writing is taught4 ,there is no haste about the child's learning to write4 ,that is easily and quickly accomplished when the proper time comes4 ,the difficult thing to do is1 very fortunately1 the thing the mother is best fitted to accomplish1 namely1 to create in the child the ability to interpret speech by means of the eye1 and the habit of expecting to get ideas by watching the face of a speaker4 ,with these ideas in mind there has been careful avoidance in this little book of any suggestion that the mother should be anxious about the speech development of the child before five years of age4 ,if she has the patience and the time to follow the directions given1 she will have done her child a very great service2 the greatest that lies within her power2 and she will have laid the foundation for a more rapid and better development of speech than would have been possible without her preliminary training4 ,not every mother will find it possible to carry out all the suggestions offered in this little book1 but no one should feel discouraged on that account4 ,it seemed best to offer too many suggestions rather than too few1 because these pages may fall into the hands of some mothers whose situation is such that full advantage can be taken of every idea here given4 ,presence of too much matter in the little book will not destroy its usefulness in cases where only a portion can be applied1 whereas the lack of some of the ideas might limit its value in certain instances4 ,no one should give up in despair just because it is not possible to do all that is here suggested4 ,something1 at least1 can be found here which it is possible to do that will help very much4 ,sometimes1 through a false sense of shame1 or through ignorance of the possibilities open to a deaf child1 mothers have refused to admit that their children were deaf1 or to allow anything to be done for them1 until very valuable time has been lost4 ,this is unfair to the child1 and very wrong4 ,a mother should have only pity for the deaf child and eagerness to aid him to overcome his handicap so far as possible4 ,delay in frankly facing the facts and in taking all possible measures to develop the remaining faculties will in the end only increase the mother's shame and add to it the pangs of remorse4 ,in a little book written to guide physicians in advising parents of deaf children1 ,i said3 ,the situation of a deaf child differs very much1 from an educational standpoint1 from that of the little hearing child4 ,two hours a day playing educational games in a kindergarten is as much as is usually given1 or is needful1 for the little hearing child up to six or seven years of age2 and his mental development and success in after life will not be seriously endangered if even that is omitted and he does not begin to go to school until he is eight or nine4 ,the hearing child of eight who has never been in school and cannot read or write has1 nevertheless1 without conscious effort1 mastered the two most important educational tasks in life4 ,he has learned to speak and has acquired the greater part of his working vocabulary4 ,in other words1 although he has never been across the threshold of a school1 his education is well advanced for his years and mental development4 ,the situation of the uninstructed deaf child of eight is very different4 ,the task which it has taken the hearing child eight years to accomplish1 the deaf child of eight has not even begun4 ,he cannot speak a word2 he does not even know that there is such a thing as a word4 ,he is eight years behind his hearing brother1 and even if he starts now1 unless some means can be found for aiding him to overtake his brother educationally1 he will be only eight years old in education when he is sixteen years of age4 ,and when he is sixteen1 the psychological period will have passed for acquiring what he should have learned when he was eight4 ,the fact that the child is deaf does not exempt him from the inexorable laws of mental psychology and heredity4 ,in the development of the human mind there is a certain period when all conditions are favorable for the acquisition of speech and language4 ,unnumbered generations of ancestors acquired speech and language at that stage of their mental development1 and this little deaf descendant's mind obeys the law of inherited tendencies4 ,if the speech and language-learning period1 from two years of age to ten1 is allowed to pass unimproved1 the task of learning them later is rendered unnecessarily difficult4 ,therefore1 in the case of the little deaf child1 the years from two to ten are crucial1 and of far greater importance than the same period in the case of the hearing child4 ,even though the child be totally deaf from birth1 he can nevertheless be taught to speak and to understand when others speak to him4 ,he can be given the same education that he would be capable of mastering if he could hear4 ,the mother need not be despairing nor heart-broken4 ,a prompt1 brave1 and intelligent facing of the situation will result in making the child one to be proud of and to lean upon4 ,,john ,d4 ,,wright4 #a ,mount ,morris ,park1 ,west1 ,new ,york ,city4 ,february1 #aiae4 ,,what ,,the ,,mother ,,of ,a ,,deaf ,,child ,,ought ,,to ,,know 7,mothers are strongly advised to read the ,preface7 ,i ,,facing ,,the ,,facts ,while deafness is a serious misfortune1 it is neither a sin1 nor a disgrace1 to be ashamed of4 ,it is a handicap1 to be sure1 but one to be bravely and cheerfully faced1 for it does not destroy the chances for happiness and success4 ,it is cause for neither discouragement nor despair4 ,it will demand patient devotion and courageous effort to overcome the disadvantage1 but what mother is not willing to show these in large measure for her child when the future holds assurance of comfort and usefulness8 ,the earlier that the facts are known and squarely faced1 the better4 ,it is always wiser in life to prepare for the worst and gratefully accept the best1 than to refuse to acknowledge the possibility of the worst until it is too late to remedy it1 or at least to reduce it to its lowest terms4 ,when a mother first suspects that her child's hearing is not perfectly normal1 what should she do8 ,of course1 first of all1 the best available ear specialist should be consulted at once in order to determine whether the cause can be removed and normal hearing restored4 ,sometimes1 however1 the specialists are uncertain of the outcome1 and sometimes their hopes are not realized4 ,in the meantime1 precious days and weeks are passing in which something could be done for the little one educationally1 without in any way interfering with the medical efforts at relief4 ,the two things can be1 and should be1 carried on simultaneously4 ,if normal hearing is restored no harm has been done by the educational training2 in fact1 the development of the child has been advanced4 ,on the other hand1 if the hopes that were entertained are disappointed1 then precious and irrecoverable time has not been lost4 ,the title presupposes that the mother has already accepted the fact that her child's hearing is not perfect1 and1 for the sake of the child1 it is to be hoped that this knowledge came to her very promptly after the occurrence of the deafness4 ,one would naturally expect a mother1 of her own accord1 to carefully test all the senses of her child by many simple and repeated exercises during the first few months of its life4 ,the many cases1 however1 in which deafness on the part of a child has not been recognized1 or at least not acknowledged1 by the mother till the third1 fourth1 or even fifth year1 show a strange neglect of a highly desirable investigation1 and a natural unwillingness to accept a truth1 the possibility of which must certainly have occurred to her long before4 ,if she could only realize that she need not feel downcast and heavy-hearted by reason of her little one's imperfect hearing2 if she could only know that she need not look forward to a life for him different from that of other children2 if she could understand that training and education can enable him to overcome to an extraordinary degree the disadvantage of deafness1 she would set about the task with cheerfulness and hope1 and if she knew that the sooner she began1 the better it would be for the little one1 she would not stubbornly refuse for so long to acknowledge even the possibility of deafness4 ,,ii ,,how ,,shall ,,the ,,mother ,,begin ,,her ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,work8 ,first of all1 something like an inventory should be taken of the faculties possessed by the child which he can use in working out his problem4 ,has he good sight1 normal smell1 taste1 muscular sense1 and memory8 ,to what extent is his hearing impaired8 ,is there any possibility of restoring it to normal acuteness1 or of improving it1 or of preventing any further impairment8 ,the completeness with which these questions can be answered depends1 to a considerable extent1 on his age and his physical condition4 ,we will suppose that he is about fifteen months old and in good bodily condition4 ,if he is older1 the same tests would be used to begin with1 though we could at once pass on to more complicated and difficult ones that cannot as yet be used with the fifteen-months-old baby4 ,first1 with regard to sight4 ,we wish to know if he can distinguish reasonably small objects at reasonable distances2 whether he can see moderately small things at short distances2 whether the angle of his vision is normal4 ,in other words1 whether his range and angle of vision are sufficient for all ordinary purposes4 ,if he can recognize his father or mother or brothers and sisters at a distance of a hundred feet he can see far enough for all practical purposes4 ,if he readily finds a small object like a pin or a small black bead when dropped on the floor1 his sight is sharp enough at short range to serve his purposes4 ,if his attention can be attracted by waving a hand or a little flag or a flower fifty or sixty degrees on either side of the direction in which he is looking1 that is1 two-thirds of the way to the side of his head1 his angle of vision is sufficiently wide4 ,if he can pick out from seven balls of worsted of the seven primary colors--red1 orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 indigo1 and violet--the ball that matches another of the same color1 he is at least not color-blind and has a sufficient sense of color for the ordinary purposes of life4 ,it may be necessary to wait till eighteen months for a satisfactory color test4 ,color blindness1 when present1 is usually most apparent in a failure to distinguish between red and green1 these two widely differing colors seeming to produce the same impression upon the color-blind eye4 ,the child will be just as likely to choose a red ball to match the green one in his hand as to select another red ball4 ,but repeated tests should be made before accepting color blindness as a fact1 since sometimes the brain can be educated to discriminate between red and green even when the impressions have not the normal degree of difference4 ,the tests for taste1 smell1 muscular sense1 touch1 and memory cannot be made with much thoroughness or satisfaction till two years of age1 though observation will show a recognition by taste and smell of that which is agreeable and that which is disagreeable4 ,accurate tests of hearing cannot be made till the child is three or four1 but it is possible when he is twelve months old to determine whether the hearing is normal or is seriously impaired1 and it is very desirable that this should be done4 ,the expression seriously impaired1 when applied to the hearing of a little child1 must be given an entirely different interpretation than it would have if used with reference to an adult who had previously had normal hearing4 ,a degree of impairment that would be unimportant in an adult is a very serious matter in the case of a child4 ,this is because the ear is the natural teacher of speech and language4 ,if the sounds of speech are not clearly heard the imitation of them will always be imperfect1 and the acquisition of language will be impeded4 ,if deafness is so great that spoken words are not heard at all1 then the child will not learn to speak and to understand when spoken to unless specially taught4 ,a much slighter degree of deafness will prevent the proper acquisition of speech and language than would in later life prevent the comprehension of conversation in a familiar language4 ,as even the child of fifteen months would benefit from some modifications of the ordinary treatment of a baby1 if his hearing was not normally acute1 it is to his advantage to have the fact of his deafness known at once by those in charge of him4 ,it is not as easy as it might seem to the inexperienced to determine even approximately the situation of a fifteen-months-old baby with respect to its hearing4 ,our interest here is1 of course1 in the tests of hearing that do not require special apparatus and special training4 ,in the case of a child less than two years of age we must rely upon merely attracting his attention by various sounds1 judging the effect upon him by his expression and actions4 ,we cannot1 at that age1 establish a system of responses1 nor expect him to imitate the sounds he hears4 ,sounds should be used for testing that disturb only the air1 and are not sufficiently low and powerful to set in vibration the floor1 chair1 or any other object with which he may be in contact4 ,deaf children rapidly become abnormally sensitive to vibrations1 which are to them what noises are to us4 ,a rather smooth1 not too shrill1 whistle is one excellent sound to use4 ,not a fluttering whistle like the postman's1 nor a heavy tone like an organ pipe or bass horn4 ,clapping the hands is a good initial test of a crude nature2 then a moderate whistle1 varying the pitch1 for sometimes high sounds are perceived1 but not low ones1 or vice versa4 ,then a bell1 such as a small table bell1 the telephone1 electric door bell1 etc4 ,lastly1 the human voice in various pitches1 volumes1 distances1 and vowels4 ,little by little it can be determined whether the child hears all the sounds1 and if not1 then which1 if any1 he perceives4 ,a totally deaf child may often deceive the investigator by turning his head at the critical moment1 apparently in response to the sound that was made1 while1 on the other hand1 a child very slightly deaf1 or not deaf at all1 may completely ignore the sounds made for the purpose of attracting his attention4 ,therefore1 it takes time and repeated tests under varying environments to gradually eliminate possible errors and coincidences4 ,it must be remembered that the intensity with which a sound affects the ear varies inversely as the square of the distance from the ear to the source of the sound4 ,that is to say1 if exactly the same sound is repeated at half the distance1 the intensity with which it reaches the ear is four times as great as before1 and if the distance is quartered1 the intensity is sixteen times as great4 ,in other words1 if ah is spoken with a certain loudness eight inches from the child's ear1 and then again with exactly the same pitch and volume only two inches from his ear1 it will be sixteen times as loud to him as it was the first time4 ,these simple tests will serve to determine whether the child has1 or has not1 a normal acuteness of hearing4 ,they will not serve to determine with any accuracy the degree of impairment1 if it is found that the hearing is impaired at all4 ,more thorough tests will have to be postponed till the child is two years old or more4 ,but the moment that impaired hearing is suspected1 the best available ear specialist should be consulted in order to determine whether the cause can be removed1 or measures taken to prevent a progressive increase in deafness4 ,the visit to the otologist should be repeated at intervals of not more than eight or ten months1 even where there is no question of treatment1 in order that any change in the physical condition of the organs may be promptly detected4 ,,iii ,,how ,,shall ,,the ,,mother ,,get ,,into ,,communication ,,with ,,her ,,deaf ,,child8 ,let it be assumed that when the child is fifteen months old it is fairly well established that his hearing is somewhat below normal4 ,between fifteen months and two years of age all that is said in this section will apply equally to the child who is feared to be totally deaf and to one who is known to possess some sound perception1 though not a normal degree of hearing4 ,for1 until he is old enough to respond to more complete and accurate tests1 we must not give up the idea that he may have a sufficient remnant of hearing to be of great assistance to him in the acquisition of speech and language1 if it is only developed and trained4 ,between the ages of twelve months and twenty-four months the child with perfect hearing makes rapid progress in learning to understand what is said to him1 and by the time he is two years old has usually begun to speak many words and sentences in a more or less imperfect way4 ,this has been accomplished principally by the mother's constant talking to her baby4 ,if she has had the good sense to always speak in simple but complete sentences1 and to avoid the foolish baby talk unfortunately affected by some people in addressing little children1 the results of her daily and hourly talk is the possession by the child of a considerable vocabulary of words whose meaning he knows1 and a less number that he is able himself to speak in a rather imperfect way4 ,in what respects should the mother modify her treatment of the baby if she suspects that his hearing is defective8 ,she should not talk to him any the less on this account1 but1 on the contrary1 she should talk to him more4 ,she should1 however1 speak a little louder1 a little nearer to him1 possibly a little more slowly and distinctly1 exercising the greatest caution1 however1 not to exaggerate speech into unnatural facial contortions1 or to accompany it by gestures4 ,to fall into the habit of mouthing and gesticulating1 making faces and motions1 will defeat entirely the purpose of all efforts to develop an understanding of speech by the child4 ,unfortunately1 such exaggerated and absurd speech is a natural and very prevalent fault4 ,to avoid it is absolutely necessary1 but requires constant watchfulness1 as there is a strong temptation to try to make speech-reading easy for the child by opening the mouth wide and making extraordinary movements of the tongue4 ,the object aimed at is to lead the child to interpret natural1 everyday speech1 and such facial contortions and exaggerations cut him off from practice in reading natural speech4 ,this point cannot be too strongly emphasized4 ,speak naturally and normally always to the deaf child4 ,above all1 the mother should form the habit of watching his eyes and of speaking as often as possible when his gaze is fixed upon her face4 ,the habit on his part of looking at the face of a speaker1 and the habit on his mother's part of observing his gaze and1 when it wanders1 of pausing in her talk till he is looking at her again1 are two very valuable aids in the language development of the deaf child4 ,in addition to always raising her voice a little in speaking to her baby1 the mother should several times a day take him in her lap and sing to him1 and talk to him with her lips not far from his ear4 ,talk to him just as all mothers do to their babies 7but not with the mangled and distorted words called baby talk71 about the pussy1 the dog1 the bird1 his foot1 his toes1 his arms and hands and fingers2 about his papa1 brothers1 sisters2 about the flowers1 the grass1 the trees1 and a thousand other things4 ,say the good old ,mother ,goose rhymes of ,patty ,cake1 ,patty ,cake1 ,baker's ,man1 ,this little pig went to market1 etc41 etc4 ,but in all your frolics and stories and songs1 take the greatest care that he shall hear or see1 or better still1 both see and hear1 what you are saying4 ,gradually he can be taught to understand many simple commands and questions just as hearing babies learn them1 by constant repetition at times and under circumstances when the meaning is obvious4 ,such as come1 go1 go to papa1 come to mamma1 jump1 stop1 kiss mother1 pet pussy1 pick up1 put down1 milk1 water1 bread 7the later in life that he learns the meaning and taste of candy the better71 do you want some bread8 milk1 water1 etc4 ,bring my slippers1 bring my shoes1 put on your hat1 take off your mittens1 wash your hands1 etc41 etc41 throughout the whole day4 ,very early the mother should learn to consider the direction from which the light comes1 and should be careful to take her position facing the main source of light which should come from behind the child4 ,the eye can be trained from the very beginning of attention to unconsciously supplement an imperfect ear in comprehending spoken words4 ,it is even possible for the eye to perform the entire task of interpreting speech1 and1 if the hearing is entirely lacking1 the course outlined will result in training the brain to interpret the movements of speech as seen by the eye1 as it would have been trained by the same procedure to interpret the sounds of speech had the organ of transmission not been injured4 ,but the idea must be constantly in the mind of the mother that her boy needs to see the spoken word at the very moment when the idea that it represents is in his mind1 ,,as ,,often as he would hear it if his hearing were perfect4 ,this one suggestion1 if faithfully lived up to from the age of one year to that of two years1 would be almost enough4 ,but there are other things that the mother can do as the mental development of the baby increases with each month of life4 ,she should encourage him to babble and gurgle and murmur1 as much as possible1 to laugh and crow and make all the various baby noises that will train and develop his voice4 ,encourage noisy1 romping1 rollicking games as he gets older1 that make him shout and call1 for they are the natural and best voice exercises4 ,,iv ,,what ,,about ,,the ,,baby',s ,,speech8 ,the hearing baby babbles because he gets some pleasure from the sounds1 and also because he desires to imitate the sounds of speech he hears around him4 ,he has his attention called constantly to sound4 ,the sense of vibration is not as strong nor as instructive as that of sound1 but if the attention of the child is early called to it1 a watchfulness for vibration from within himself as well as from without1 can be aroused1 and a sensitiveness developed that would not have come as early1 if at all1 without special1 directive effort on the part of the mother4 ,she can lead her little one to oo-oo1 and ee-ee1 and mamma1 and bub-bub1 etc41 by doing these babblings herself while the baby is in her arms and his tiny hands are wandering over her lips and face and throat4 ,these exercises will gradually bring a recognition on the part of the child of the sensation of vibration that accompanies voice1 and they will give facility1 coupled with the normal and natural intonations that have been acquired when he was not conscious of any effort1 that will prepare him for a better and more fluent speech when the time comes for more exact articulation training4 ,but during the first two or three years of the child's life the principal stress should be placed upon his learning to understand what is said to him1 without bothering much about his speaking himself4 ,in the case of the hearing child1 the understanding of language comes before he can himself utter it4 ,this must also be the case with the deaf child1 and the period preceding utterance must be longer1 by reason of his handicap1 than in the case of a child with normal hearing4 ,v ,,developing ,,the ,,mental ,,faculties ,by the time he is two years old he has gained maturity and grasp enough to play many little educational games with his mother and his little brothers and sisters1 or playmates4 ,these games should be calculated to develop his various faculties1 his powers of observation1 memory1 and concentration4 ,to develop a faculty is really to train the brain4 ,as a matter of fact1 we see and hear and taste and smell and feel with our brains4 ,the eye of a two-year-old child is practically as perfect an optical instrument as the eye of a boy of ten1 and yet how much more the older boy seems to see4 ,this is because his brain has been trained to interpret the impressions that even the baby eyes received but did not understand4 ,of course1 where the instrument is found to be imperfect we can assist it by means of additional lenses1 or perhaps by some one of the skillful operations now performed by oculists1 and1 as the sight is of such increased importance to a deaf child1 the greatest care and watchfulness should be given to his eyes4 ,do not let him sleep1 or lie1 facing the sun1 or any other powerful light1 but throughout his life be careful that all his use of eyesight be under conditions of ample and well-directed light4 ,supposing that the simple tests referred to heretofore have shown that the eyes1 as optical instruments1 are sufficiently perfect1 our efforts need to be to train the brain to take cognizance of1 and to interpret the impressions transmitted to it by the eyes4 ,we shall not be able to improve the working of the eye by our efforts1 but we can educate the brain4 ,color and form make the earliest appeal to the child's eyes1 and we can use them for our educational play4 ,the duplicate set of worsted balls of the seven primal colors can be increased to include easily distinguishable shades4 ,the child can be sent on entertaining voyages of discovery around the room with a ball of a certain color to find other objects similar in color in the rugs1 books1 chairs1 dresses1 ties1 etc4 ,a game to develop observation of form can be made by collecting a group of objects of varying shapes in a pile on the floor or a low table2 mother picks up some one of the objects1 directs the attention of the little one to it1 and after he has observed it somewhat she puts it back in the pile and moves all the objects about till they are well mixed up4 ,ask the little fellow then to pick out the object mother held in her hand a moment before4 ,when he can do this by sight without difficulty1 have him shut his eyes1 place an object in his little hands1 teach him to feel it over carefully1 take it from him1 and1 while his eyes are still closed1 place it once more in the pile4 ,let him then open his eyes and see if he can indicate the object he had previously held4 ,when he has mastered this1 give the game another turn by asking him to find by means of touch alone1 while the eyes are still closed1 the object that he has been feeling1 after it is restored to the pile of other objects4 ,still another turn can be given by first letting him see the object1 without touching it1 then having him close his eyes1 and by touch alone select it from the pile4 ,a set of wooden forms1 such as spheres1 cubes1 pyramids1 cones1 cylinders1 and similar1 but truncated1 forms1 can be obtained at any school supply store4 ,to these can be added common household objects such as small frames1 vases1 napkin rings1 spoons1 forks1 and other similar things1 as well as some of the forms included in a complete set of the ,montessori material4 ,the ,montessori weighted forms are excellent for training his muscular recognition of difference of weight1 and an excellent way is to put various quantities of birdshot into half a dozen exactly similar little rubber balls that can be purchased at any toy store for two cents apiece4 ,then hand the boy one of the weighted balls1 and after he has felt its weight put it back with the other similar-appearing balls and see if he can again discover it4 ,an outfit for training his tactile sense can be made in any home by collecting duplicate pieces of cloth having different textures2 such as velvet1 rough woolen tweeds or homespun1 silk1 satin1 cambric1 muslin1 etc41 and pasting one set on cards4 ,also by stretching on a wooden frame1 strings of varying sizes1 weaves1 and twists1 and having a bunch of duplicates from which he can select1 by sight and touch alone1 the pieces that correspond1 each to each1 with those on the frame or on the cards4 ,if there is a guitar1 or mandolin1 or zither1 or a piano1 available1 perhaps1 by and by1 the mother can teach the child to recognize the difference in the vibratory sensation perceived by his fingers touching the body of the instrument when a low note and a high note are struck alternately4 ,she can make a game of this1 too1 by later having him close his eyes and place his fingers in contact with the instrument and then tell her approximately what string or key she struck4 ,the next step1 if she can take it1 is to place his little hands upon her chest to feel the lowest notes of her voice1 and upon both the chest and the top of her head to feel the highest1 and endeavoring to get him to recognize the similarity in vibratory sensation between what he now feels and what he previously felt on the musical instruments4 ,the last step in this series of exercises to awaken a recognition of vibratory sensations is to lead him to feel in his own chest and head the vibrations set up by his own voice in shouting and laughing1 crying or babbling4 ,these hints that are so quickly and easily given1 require weeks and months of patient1 happy effort to carry out4 ,beware that no one of them is repeated or continued so long at a time as to become a thing dreaded and disliked4 ,remember that the attention of a little child is like a constantly flitting butterfly that rests for only a moment or two on anything before dancing away to something else4 ,there are many little games with kindergarten materials that can be used to develop the powers of attention1 observation1 imitation1 and obedience4 ,the laying in simple designs1 by watchful imitation of the mother1 of colored sticks1 colored squares1 etc42 the building with colored blocks2 stringing of large beads2 weaving with wide strips of colored paper simple designs that a mother could invent with the material at hand or could learn from any kindergarten manual4 ,the point that must be firmly1 but pleasantly1 insisted upon in these exercises is careful and obedient following by the child of the exact order of movement and manner of placing adopted by the mother teacher4 ,the entire value of these exercises for the purpose she wishes to accomplish depends upon accurate observation by the child and implicit obedience4 ,the material outfit prepared and sold by the ,american exploiters of the ,montessori method is admirably adapted to the development of the budding faculties of the child1 and the mother who is trying to do all in her power to prepare her little one to benefit to the greatest possible extent from the professional instruction that must come later1 will make no mistake in supplying herself with the set of materials1 and making herself intelligent on their use by the child4 ,,vi ,,developing ,,the ,,lungs ,the tendency of the deaf child is to grow up with less development of lungs and of the imagination than hearing children4 ,in order to overcome this tendency the child must be encouraged and taught to play games and use toys that will exercise the lungs and develop the power of imaginative thought4 ,in order to expand and strengthen the lungs through the child's play1 supply him with the brightly colored paper wind-mills that he can set whirling by blowing lustily2 also the rubber balloon toys1 even though the torturing squeak of the toys is only heard by those in the vicinity and not by himself4 ,an especially good exercise for the gentle and long-continued control of breath results from the toy blow pipes with conical wire bowls by means of which light1 celluloid balls of bright colors are kept suspended in the air1 dancing on the column of breath blown softly through the tube4 ,the more steadily the child blows1 the more mysteriously the ball remains at a fixed point1 whirling rapidly but without any apparent support4 ,blowing soap bubbles1 especially trying to blow big ones1 is very useful as well as interesting4 ,for physical development in which the lungs come in for their share and the sense of mechanical rhythm is fostered1 an excellent exercise is marching in step to the stroke of the drum1 proud in ,boy ,scout uniform4 ,dancing is a very desirable accomplishment for the deaf child4 ,tops and tenpins cultivate dexterity1 as do playing ball and rolling hoop4 ,,vii ,,the ,,cultivation ,,of ,,creative ,,imagination ,this can be greatly helped by early use on the part of the child of colored modeling wax to reproduce objects and animals1 and to construct models of imaginary houses1 yards1 trees1 etc4 ,a sand pile1 or a large1 shallow sand box1 perhaps five feet square1 with sides six inches high1 and completely lined with enamel cloth to make it watertight1 is a wonderful implement for constructive play on the part of the child4 ,whole villages of farms1 fields1 and forests1 ponds and brooks1 roads and railroads1 can be made here in miniature4 ,building blocks of wood or stone2 the metal construction toy called ,mechano2 dolls1 doll houses1 furniture1 and equipment1 are valuable1 but they should be simple1 inexpensive and not fragile4 ,cut-up picture puzzles1 painting books1 tracing slates with large and simple designs cultivate observation and ingenuity4 ,kaleidoscopes and stereoscopes are excellent1 but moving pictures are so trying upon the eyes1 and the air of the theaters is so bad1 that a deaf child whose eyes are his only salvation1 and whose health is doubly important1 should not even know of their existence till he is seven or eight years old4 ,,viii ,,further ,,tests ,,of ,,hearing ,but1 as soon as the mother finds her little child sufficiently mature to benefit by the sense training described above1 whether it be at twenty or1 as is more likely1 at from twenty-four to thirty months1 she can begin to make a more complete and accurate determination of the degree of his deafness1 for now she can establish a system of responses on the part of the child that will show her when he perceives the sounds she uses in her tests4 ,in order to be certain that the little one knows what she wishes of him1 she must begin with some sensation that she is sure he feels4 ,we will assume that he has as yet no speech1 and cannot count1 at least does not know the names of the numbers4 ,let the mother pat him once on the shoulder and then cause him to hold up one of his little fingers4 ,then pat him twice1 and make him hold up two fingers1 then three times and have him put up three fingers4 ,now return to one pat and one finger1 repeat two pats and the holding up of two of his fingers1 and three pats and three fingers4 ,go over and over this little game until he has grasped the idea and will hold up as many fingers as he feels pats4 ,simple as the idea seems1 it will often take a bright child some time to realize what you want him to do4 ,but you are sure that he feels the pats1 whereas1 if you began at once with sounds1 you could not know whether his failure to respond was because he did not hear1 or through not understanding what you expected of him4 ,he will weary of the exercise soon1 and then mother may as well turn to something else till he has rested4 ,having established this system of response on his part to sensations perceived1 it is not difficult to shift from the number of pats to the number of times he hears a noise4 ,this once accomplished1 tests can be made with sounds of different kinds1 different pitch1 and different volume1 varying the distance1 the instruments1 and the vowel when the articulate sounds are reached4 ,he can be shown a whistle1 then1 when it is blown behind his back1 he will hold up as many fingers as the times it was blown1 if he perceives the sound4 ,he can be asked to distinguish between a whistle1 a little bell1 and the clapping of the hands4 ,when he is successful in that1 the vowel sounds may be uttered not far from his ear1 but behind him4 ,begin with ah 771 as this is the most open and strongest2 then try oh 7o with macron71 which is not easily confused with 4 ,then ee 7e with macron74 ,if1 after a time1 a distance and a degree of loudness are found that enable him to recognize these sounds with unfailing accuracy1 or at least #ij per cent4 of the time1 then other sounds can be added1 such as aw 7a with diaresis below71 7a with breve7 7as in hat71 7i with macron7 7as in ice71 oo 7as in cool71 ow 7as in owl74 ,using these sounds at different pitches1 and with different intensities and distances1 a sufficiently accurate estimate can be formed of the degree of his hearing power so far as his present needs are concerned4 ,,ix ,,the ,,development ,,of ,,residual ,,hearing ,if any ability to perceive sounds is found1 every effort should be made to lead the child to use it1 and as the most essential use of hearing is in the comprehension of spoken language1 the principal effort should be made along that line4 ,take three objects1 the names of which are short1 with the principal vowels quite easily distinguished4 ,a little toy street car1 a cap1 and a toy sheep1 would do nicely to begin with1 as the three words1 car1 cap1 and sheep1 are not easily confused4 ,place two of the objects before him1 the car and the sheep1 and speak the name of one of them1 car1 we will say1 loudly and distinctly close to his ear1 but in such a way that he cannot see your mouth4 ,then show him the car4 ,repeat it with sheep and show him the sheep4 ,repeat car1 and take his little hand1 put it on the car4 ,then sheep1 and make him put his hand on the sheep4 ,continue this process until he will indicate to you the object you name4 ,when he makes only occasional mistakes with two objects1 add the cap4 ,when he can get the right one about #ij per cent4 of the time1 then take three new words1 returning occasionally to the first three4 ,very soon his own name and those of others1 with photographs to enable him to indicate which1 will prove of interest to him4 ,when he has successfully learned to distinguish a few single words1 a beginning can be made on short sentences4 ,commands that he can execute are convenient4 ,shut your eyes1 ,open your mouth1 ,clap your hands1 can follow drill on the three words1 eyes1 mouth1 hands4 ,open the window1 ,shut the window1 ,open the book1 ,shut the book1 ,open the door1 etc4 ,stand up1 ,sit down4 ,when this beginning has been made1 the road is open to the gradual increase in a hearing vocabulary1 but do not attempt so much at once as to confuse and discourage the child4 ,the suggestions already made should be studiously followed throughout his whole childhood4 ,if his hearing is not too seriously impaired1 he will begin to attempt to imitate spoken sounds by the time he is twenty-four to thirty months old4 ,but his ability to imitate sounds is not an accurate measure of his ability to hear4 ,he may perceive the sounds much better than he is able to reproduce them4 ,distinct utterance comes slowly to the child with normal hearing1 and still more slowly and imperfectly to the child whose hearing is not good4 ,but the continued effort to make him hear words and sentences is a very valuable exercise for him and should be faithfully continued till he is old enough to respond to the tests of hearing as outlined and it has been definitely proved that he cannot possibly tell whether 1 or 7o with macron7 or 7e with macron7 is said1 no matter how loud or how near the ear the sound is uttered4 ,the question will naturally arise as to whether the child's hearing of speech can be aided by an electric or mechanical device4 ,when it is possible to make the child perceive the sound of the vowels with the unaided voice uttered very near the ear1 ,i believe it to be better1 at first1 not to interpose any artificial device4 ,but ,i have found that sometimes1 in cases where the sound perception was not at first sufficient to enable the child to distinguish even the most dissimilar vowel sounds1 although uttered loudly close to the ear1 ,i could awaken the attention of the child to sound1 and stimulate the dormant power by the use of an ,acousticon4 ,after a few months ,i have been able to dispense with the instrument and use only the unaided voice at close range4 ,later1 when some vocabulary has been acquired through these auricular exercises1 it is often desirable to return to the ,acousticon and teach the child to use it1 in order to extend the distance at which sounds can be heard4 ,by the use of the ,acousticon1 it then becomes possible to communicate by means of the ear without speaking at such short range4 ,it is not easy1 however1 to induce a child to use an ,acousticon at all times1 whereas an adult will take the time and trouble necessary to become accustomed to the instrument1 and will put up with the slight inconveniences inseparable from its use4 ,x ,,developing ,,the ,,power ,,of ,,lip ,,reading ,in this effort to develop the hearing1 however1 the necessity must not be forgotten of also training the brain to associate ideas with what the eye sees on the lips when words are spoken4 ,in the case of the very slightly deaf child1 this visual training is not quite so important as the auricular training1 but when there is much deafness it is the more important of the two4 ,the comprehension of much language can be given to the little deaf child by constantly talking just as any mother does to her hearing baby1 only being always careful to take a position facing the main source of light1 which should come from behind the child4 ,the hearing child arrives at the association of meaning with the sounds of words only after very many repetitions4 ,how often must the child hear ,mamma1 ,look at mamma1 ,see1 here is mamma1 ,mamma is coming1 ,mamma is here1 ,where is mamma8 ,do you love mamma8 ,mamma loves baby1 etc41 etc41 from morning to night1 day after day1 week after week4 ,the mother does it for pleasure2 to play with and pet the dear baby4 ,she does not think of it as a teaching exercise1 but it is a very important one4 ,the deaf baby will learn gradually to associate a meaning with the various sequences of movement of the lips1 if a little care is taken to watch his eyes and to speak when they are directed toward the speaker1 and to stand in such relation to the light that it falls upon the speaker's face4 ,the speech should be the same as to the hearing child1 but it takes a little more care and watchfulness to have the deaf child see the same word or phrase as many times as the hearing child hears it4 ,if it is spoken when the baby is not looking1 it does not help4 ,when the little one is learning to walk1 the mother says1 ,come to mamma1 ,go to daddy1 and gradually he learns come and go4 ,she has him play hide and seek with another child1 and she says1 ,where is ,tom8 ,where is the baby's mouth8 ,where is the baby's nose8 etc41 and by and by he knows where and mouth and nose1 and the names of his playmates or brothers and sisters4 ,when he is sitting on the floor she picks him up1 saying up4 ,when she puts him from her lap to the floor she says down4 ,if he is naughty she says naughty1 and perhaps spats his little hands1 and so on through the day4 ,a little care on her part1 a little added thought and watchfulness1 perhaps a few more repetitions1 and little by little she will find her deaf baby learning to look at her always1 and to understand much that is said to him4 ,she must all this time remember1 also1 that the shades of feeling1 pleasure1 disappointment1 approval1 disapproval1 doubt1 certainty1 love1 anger1 joy1 which are largely conveyed to the hearing child by intonation of voice1 must be conveyed to the deaf baby by facial expression and manner4 ,they become very keen at interpreting moods by the look4 ,let the face be sunny and kind and ,,interested1 if possible4 ,the first indication of impatience1 of being bored and weary1 will destroy much of one's influence with the deaf child4 ,sometimes it is harder to disguise one's feelings in the face than in the voice4 ,do not be caught unawares4 ,interest1 cheerfulness1 and patience are tremendous forces to help the little deaf child4 ,some one has said3 ,when you consent1 consent cordially2 ,when you refuse1 refuse finally2 ,when you punish1 punish good-naturedly4 ,,xi ,,forming ,,character ,and now that the little one is two or three years old1 it may be well to say a few words about his general training in character and habits4 ,there is a strong1 and a not unnatural tendency to maintain an attitude toward the deaf child that differs from that maintained by sensible mothers toward their other children4 ,they often set up a different standard of conduct and of obligation for the afflicted child4 ,his brothers and sisters are taught to always defer to his wishes2 even to the extent of yielding to improper and selfish demands on his part1 and conceding that they have no rights where he is concerned4 ,he is not required to perform the little duties demanded of the other children4 ,he is given privileges which the others do not1 and which no one of them1 including himself1 should enjoy4 ,he grows tyrannical1 domineering1 and selfish4 ,the mother says3 ,poor little chap2 he has trouble enough1 we must do all in our power to make up to him for what he misses by reason of his deafness4 ,this is1 however1 a shortsighted1 and really a cruel policy4 ,it lays up much misery for his future1 and in the end proves a serious handicap to one who needs to have as few additional difficulties as possible4 ,though it may seem hard-hearted1 it is really kinder to put him on the same basis as any other child4 ,make him do everything possible for himself4 ,insist upon his being independent2 dressing himself as soon as he is able1 buttoning his own shoes1 and performing all the little self-help acts that the wise mother demands of all her children4 ,make no distinction in the treatment accorded him4 ,ask the same services1 reward right actions and punish wrongdoing as impartially as if he was not deaf1 only being sure that he clearly connects the punishment with the wrong act4 ,this1 in the case of a deaf child1 requires a little more care than with a hearing child4 ,train him to be thoughtful for the comfort of others1 and respectful of their rights1 just as you insist that the others observe his rights4 ,he cannot be argued with1 object lessons and example must be the means of teaching him manners and morals4 ,,xii ,,cultivating ,,the ,,social ,,instinct ,between the ages of two and four years all the games and exercises heretofore described can continue to be used1 together with others increasingly difficult and complicated1 as the child's mind develops and his powers of observation1 attention1 and memory increase4 ,take very special care that he learns all the childhood games that other children know and enjoy4 ,devote yourself more to him in this respect than you would in the case of another child4 ,encourage the neighbors' children to come and play with him by making it especially pleasant for them4 ,teach them yourself to play ,hide the ,thimble1 ,hide and ,seek1 ,drop the ,handkerchief1 ,going to ,jerusalem1 ,old ,maid1 ,bean ,bag4 ,follow the ,leader is an excellent game by which to teach watchfulness and imitation4 ,cat and ,mouse1 ,hot ,potato1 ,ring on a ,string1 are all games that can be played by groups and cultivate quickness4 ,ping ,pong ,football is excellent as a lung developer4 ,that is the choosing of sides and trying to blow a ping pong ball between the goal posts formed by a pair of salt shakers at opposite ends of a table4 ,or blowing a feather across a sheet by opposing sides4 ,encourage good1 romping1 noisy games in which the children naturally laugh and shout4 ,they are the best of voice-developing exercises1 and by such means1 and his long-distance shouting and calling to his playmates1 the little hearing child gains much of his lung and voice power4 ,in all his games1 as in all his other activities1 take very special pains to talk to him1 using the regulation expressions and training him to watch for the ,it's your turn1 or ,now1 ,tom1 ,ready1 ,whose turn is it8 etc41 etc4 ,if the foregoing suggestions have been carefully carried out since he was twelve months old1 he will long ago have arrived unconsciously at the knowledge that all things1 and all actions1 and all feelings1 have names1 and that the mouth always makes the same sequence of movements for the same thing4 ,in the babbling exercises recommended1 he will gradually come to utter many of the vowel and consonant sounds of his native language2 especially those that are made by the lips1 and by evident positions of the tongue4 ,those sounds that require hidden positions of the organs1 such as the sound of ,c and ,k in cat and ark1 or ,g in go and dog1 or ng in long1 he is unlikely to have stumbled upon4 ,these can be taught when the proper time comes1 but their absence for the present need cause no anxiety4 ,in fact1 up to the time when he is three and a half or four years old1 the matter of speaking is not one to be much troubled about4 ,if the conception of language has been given him through lip-reading1 and some ability to understand the necessary language of his daily life1 his future success is assured4 ,,xiii ,,something ,,about ,,schools ,,and ,,methods ,till the child is at least four years old1 the proper place for him is at home1 and if he must be sent to one of the large public schools for the deaf it should not be till he is five or even six years of age4 ,but during these years the mother can gain much knowledge that will help her by visiting as many schools for the deaf as possible4 ,there are about a hundred and fifty such schools in the ,united ,states and eight in ,canada4 ,they vary in size1 in character1 and in methods of instruction employed4 ,there are public boarding schools1 and public day schools1 free to the resident of the state1 or city1 in which they are located4 ,there are private boarding and day schools1 maintained by charity1 or by the tuition fees4 ,some of each class are oral schools2 that is1 they employ only speech methods of instruction1 without any signs or finger spelling4 ,others are called ,combined schools2 that is1 they permit1 and in some exercises encourage1 the use of finger spelling and gestural signs1 while they also give some instruction by the speech method4 ,there are sectarian and non-sectarian schools1 both oral and combined4 ,a very considerable number of schools for the deaf in the ,united ,states and ,canada still use manual1 or silent1 methods of instruction1 at least in part4 ,but the speech1 or oral1 method is steadily growing in popularity1 and gradually supplanting manual spelling and gestural signs4 ,the time will certainly come when the public will be too intelligent to any longer tolerate the use between teacher and pupil1 or between any employee and the pupils1 in a school for the deaf1 any system of manual communication4 ,every deaf child1 no matter if born totally deaf and of a low order of intelligence1 can be given as much education by the exclusive use of the speech method as it can by any manual1 or silent1 method or by a combination of the speech and the silent method4 ,this is not the mere expression of an opinion1 but the statement of a fact2 a fact firmly established by actual results in state institutions where1 unfortunately1 the law requires the admission of pupils too poorly equipped intellectually to belong in a school with normally bright children4 ,in addition to acquiring all the education of which his mental endowment makes him capable1 he can be taught to speak and to understand when spoken to4 ,the degree of perfection attainable depends upon the ability of the child1 the skill of the teaching1 and especially upon the environment in which the child passes its formative educational years4 ,the probability of the child's acquiring a maximum proficiency in speaking and in understanding others when they speak1 is lessened in direct proportion to the extent to which he is permitted to use the silent or manual means of communication4 ,in the so-called combined schools1 the environment is largely manual4 ,a visit to the playgrounds1 the baseball fields1 the shops1 dining rooms1 and dormitories of combined schools will disclose the pupils using silent means of communication1 not only between themselves1 but with those in charge of them4 ,they do not think in spoken forms1 but in finger spelling and signs4 ,the powerful influence of environment in those schools is against the acquisition of the speech and lip-reading habit4 ,the mother who has faithfully followed the suggestions offered in the foregoing pages will be able to appreciate what she sees on visiting the schools1 and will gain much more from such visits than one who is entirely inexperienced in the problem4 ,every mother should make it her business to visit at least one purely oral school1 in order that she may make herself thoroughly intelligent on what may be expected of a deaf child4 ,unfortunately1 pure oral schools are not as plentiful as combined schools1 but it will well repay any parent to make a journey1 even across the continent1 if necessary1 in order to study the workings of some good1 purely oral1 school4 ,do not be satisfied with a visit to the nearest combined school4 ,you owe it to your child to make yourself thoroughly intelligent as to the possibilities open to a deaf child4 ,you will not be intelligent till you have personally visited some good purely oral school4 ,the number1 character1 location1 etc41 of the schools are constantly changing4 ,a descriptive list of all schools corrected to date will be gladly supplied by the author to any one requesting it4 ,,xiv ,,the ,,preservation ,,of ,,speech ,,when ,,deafness ,,results ,,from ,,accident ,,or ,,illness ,,after ,,infancy ,up to this point it has been assumed that deafness occurred before the age of two years1 and before the child had begun to speak4 ,in cases where1 through accident or illness1 impairment of hearing has come after the child has begun to talk1 the mother should bend all her efforts upon keeping the speech of her child4 ,the younger the child1 the more difficult is the task4 ,without the greatest vigilance and increasing attention1 the speech of a little child who has become deaf will fade rapidly away1 until it is lost entirely1 and must be artificially recreated when he is old enough to grasp the complicated ideas involved in speech teaching to the deaf4 ,but by persistently encouraging him to talk1 and never1 even for a day1 allowing him to lapse into silence1 and by not accepting careless and faulty utterance1 but pretending not to understand till the child speaks distinctly and correctly1 the natural speech1 which was his before deafness occurred1 can be preserved1 and the speech habit thoroughly fixed4 ,if1 by good luck1 the little one has learned to read even a simple primer before becoming deaf1 it will be much easier to prevent a loss of speech4 ,for this reading can be made an excuse for frequently using his speech4 ,but when the child cannot read1 the mother must depend entirely upon inducing him to talk to her1 refusing to give him anything1 or grant his request1 till he asks for it in good spoken form2 showing him pictures1 playing games1 frolicking with him2 doing everything that a mother's love and ingenuity can suggest1 to keep him talking all day long4 ,the tendency of the child will be to drop1 or slur1 the final syllables of the words2 to leave off the sound of final ed2 to lose the sharpness of the s2 to blur the l2 and sometimes to lose the sound of k and c4 ,but1 if he has learned to read1 by pointing to these letters in the words he has spoken imperfectly1 he will correct his own mistake4 ,prompt and increasing attention to the little fellow's speech during the first year after deafness occurs will usually serve to fix correct habits for life4 ,,xv ,,teaching ,,lip ,,reading ,all that has been said about training the little deaf child to read the lip movements and associate them with the names of things and of actions1 will apply also to the little boy who has suddenly been made deaf1 after speech has been learned4 ,be careful that he is looking at you always when you speak to him or reply to some question he has asked1 but speak just as you would have done before he became deaf4 ,you may have to repeat things to him very often at first1 but do not permit any sign of impatience in your face4 ,do not let him get the idea that it is a hardship to talk to him4 ,remember that you are changing his manner of understanding speech over to another way1 and that his present and future happiness depends very greatly on the thoroughness and promptness with which it is done4 ,in all dealings with a deaf child the mother should remember that the child draws his impressions of the character and the feelings of those about him from the expression of their faces1 and many almost unconscious little acts and gestures4 ,avoid very carefully any appearance of being impatient1 or bored1 or contemptuous at his failures4 ,try to understand the difficulties under which he is working to maintain his place in the world4 ,do not humor his whims1 or spoil him by indulgence1 yet treat him with the greatest consideration and fairness4 ,above all1 be cheerful and1 at least apparently1 interested in his doings and sayings4 ,,xvi ,,school ,,age ,the question of what is school age for a deaf child is answered very differently by different people4 ,most of the state institutions for the deaf in the ,united ,states1 ,canada1 and ,europe will not admit children younger than six years of age4 ,seven years is still the age of admission in some institutions1 but the tendency is to lower the age limit4 ,in some schools children of five are admitted1 in a few those as young as four1 and in two or three small schools babies of two and three are received4 ,any statement here must1 therefore1 be taken as only the expression of the author's opinion1 resulting from more than twenty-five years of active teaching1 combined with wide observation4 ,it would appear that1 where home conditions are not bad1 either physically or morally1 the proper place for the little deaf child till he is nearly1 or quite1 five1 is with his mother4 ,very much can be done for the little one before he is five to prepare him for the instruction which should be given at that age1 but it is possible for the mother to do what is necessary1 and even the simplest home conditions are preferable for very little children to the institutional environment4 ,it is impossible1 in a school of from one hundred to five hundred pupils1 to create a real home environment1 such as the very little child should have4 ,it is really a pity that the child of five should have to be placed in the institutional environment as it at present exists4 ,if the legislative bodies of our states1 and the gentlemen who manage the schools1 could only be induced to adopt the cottage plan of housing in small units1 the disadvantages of institutional life would be enormously reduced4 ,,xvii ,,organized ,,efforts ,,by ,,parents ,,to ,,obtain ,,better ,,educational ,,conditions ,it should be possible for every taxpayer in every state who has a deaf child and who has not the means or the wish to place that child in a private school1 to have the child educated in a free public school as completely by the speech method as his hearing children are educated by that method4 ,he should not be compelled to send his child out of the state or else subject him to the influence of signs and finger spelling1 with the probability that he will leave school a deaf mute4 ,unfortunately1 in many states1 this is not possible at present4 ,but if the parents of deaf children would organize themselves into ,parents' ,associations and send representatives to the governors and legislative committees2 and arrange for demonstrations by orally educated deaf children from pure oral schools2 and carry on an active campaign of enlightenment and of agitation1 the present state of affairs would soon cease to exist4 ,i wish to make an urgent plea for the energetic efforts of all parents of deaf children to improve the speech-teaching conditions in their respective localities4 ,at present1 very far from all that is possible is being done to give deaf children a ready command of spoken ,english1 and a working ability to understand when spoken to4 ,the persons who have the most at stake in this matter1 and who should be most active and persistent in demanding from the school authorities and legislatures better facilities for the acquisition of speech by deaf children1 are the parents of those children4 ,in each locality these parents should organize into ,parents' ,associations4 ,these local associations should1 in turn1 be connected by a statewide organization composed of representatives from each local association4 ,these state organizations could then be combined by representation in a national organization of all the parents of deaf children in the ,united ,states4 ,such complete organization once effected1 the reasonable demands made in the interests of better results in speech teaching would quickly be complied with by the respective schools and the legislatures or boards of directors that control them4 ,the associations could induce their local papers to aid in a campaign to educate public opinion by printing facts concerning what is done elsewhere4 ,if all parents of deaf children only knew what might be accomplished1 and were so organized as to permit them to present their wishes forcibly to those able to change conditions1 the deaf child would quickly come into his own4 ,,xviii ,a ,,personal ,,matter ,,for ,,each ,,parent ,let some parent in each locality make it his or her business to get the names and addresses of all other parents of deaf children in the vicinity4 ,induce them to come together some evening and choose a chairman and an executive committee of three4 ,let these four people make a point of studying the education of the deaf as conducted in the most advanced communities4 ,let the executive committees of the several local associations get together once or twice a year for a sort of state convention of parents4 ,let them invite leading educators to address them1 and let them appoint committees to visit schools in other states where different methods are employed4 ,if such a movement was once started there would be found plenty of subject-matter for discussion1 and plenty of opportunities to work for a betterment of conditions4 ,the author of this little book would be glad to give any aid in his power to such a movement1 and to place the results of his twenty-five years of experience at the disposal of any parent1 or parents' organization4 ,the first efforts should be directed to inducing1 or compelling1 the so-called ,combined ,schools for the deaf throughout the ,united ,states to wholly segregate at least a small oral department from the manually taught pupils4 ,the orally taught pupils should never come in contact during their school life1 either in the shops1 dining rooms1 playgrounds1 or schoolrooms1 with those pupils with whom finger spelling and signs are employed4 ,all employees1 whether superintendents1 teachers1 supervisors1 teachers of trades1 or servants1 who have to do with the orally taught pupils should be compelled to use only speech and lip reading 7and writing1 if absolutely necessary7 under penalty of dismissal for failing to do so4 ,only by means of such segregation1 and the enforcement of speech as a universal medium of communication1 can the appropriations for oral work be made really productive of good results in what are now called ,combined ,schools4 ,this can be done on a small scale at the beginning1 with the little entering beginners4 ,then if all beginners are put into this oral department it will gradually grow at the expense of the manual department1 until1 after a period of eight or ten years1 the entire school will have become oral4 ,this is the only method of procedure by which satisfactory results in speech teaching for practical purposes can be obtained in return for the generous appropriations that the states make4 ,it has been fully demonstrated by actual operation in the state of ,pennsylvania1 where the largest school for the deaf in the world has in this manner been changed from a ,combined ,school to a pure oral school4 ,all the deaf children in the ,state of ,massachusetts are now taught wholly by the oral method4 ,if that polyglot and heterogeneous population can be so treated1 there is no state in the ,union where the same could not be done if there were the desire and the ambition to do it4 ,in many states deaf children have been1 either by definite statement1 or by tacit understanding1 exempted from the enforcement of the compulsory education law4 ,this is all wrong4 ,they need the protection of that excellent law even more than the hearing child1 and if the law for compulsory education does not1 in fact1 apply to them1 it should at once be amended to do so4 ,,xix ,,day ,,schools ,the parents are the ones most interested in this matter1 and it is through their efforts alone that improvement can be brought about4 ,in ,massachusetts1 ,new ,york1 ,new ,jersey1 ,wisconsin1 ,michigan1 ,illinois1 ,ohio1 ,washington1 ,oregon1 ,texas1 ,missouri1 and ,california1 free public oral day schools have been established4 ,this movement has reached its highest development in ,wisconsin and ,michigan4 ,in ,wisconsin there are twenty-four such schools scattered throughout the state1 and in ,michigan fourteen4 ,new schools are opened by the ,board of ,education under prescribed conditions upon the request of a certain number of parents of deaf children4 ,such a law should be on the statute books of every state1 and will be when the parents of deaf children organize and demand it4 ,,xx ,,the ,,deaf ,,child ,,at ,,five ,,years ,,of ,,age ,when the little child that has been deaf from infancy is five years of age1 he should be placed in a purely oral school for the deaf1 if such a thing is possible4 ,the child who has become deaf by illness or accident after speech has been acquired1 should be placed under experienced instruction by the speech method at once4 ,to quote once more from my little book of suggestions to physicians3 ,if the proper school for the little hearing child of five did not happen to exist in his immediate neighborhood1 no one would think of insisting upon the necessity of sending the little one away to a distant boarding school4 ,but that is what must be done in the case of the little deaf child1 if precious and irrecoverable years are not to be lost4 ,it is often a difficult matter to persuade a mother to sacrifice her own personal happiness and comfort in having the little child with her1 and to look far enough into the future to see that a true and unselfish love for the child requires her to entrust him to the care of others during those early and crucial years4 ,,xxi ,,schools ,,for ,,the ,,hearing ,,and ,,private ,,governesses ,if no oral day or boarding school is available near at hand1 the mother should have the far-sighted love that is unselfish1 and the courage to part with her little five-year-old child during the months of the school year1 and place him in some one of the distant schools where he can live and be taught in a purely oral environment4 ,there are two alternatives to this1 each of which is sometimes attempted1 but both are undesirable4 ,first the mother not infrequently attempts to have her child educated in the schools for hearing children4 ,this is very unsatisfactory and even dangerous1 for if persisted in it results in wholly inadequate progress1 uneven development1 bad speech1 irretrievable loss of time1 and often in a complete nervous breakdown4 ,this may not come for some years1 but the nervous system1 once undermined by the excessive strain of trying to keep up under impossible conditions1 can never be fully repaired4 ,here is what a partially deaf woman writes of her experience as a child3 ,when ,i was three and one-half years old scarlet fever left me almost totally deaf4 ,my father was a physician4 ,he was urged to send me to a school for the deaf1 but his medical training told him that what was needed was association with speaking children1 if ,i were to retain my speech1 for at that time the oral method was unknown in our state4 ,so ,i went to school with hearing children4 ,unless you have been deaf1 you will not understand the misery in this statement4 ,a little1 lonely deaf child1 ,i went to a public school1 hearing practically nothing of the teachers' instructions or the pupils' recitations4 ,of the torture of that deaf childhood ,i will not speak4 ,you all know how cruel children may be1 and a deaf child among hearing children often suffers untold torments4 ,the second alternative is to seek some person who will teach the child in his own home4 ,this1 too1 is very unsatisfactory1 and involves loss of time and opportunity that can never be recovered4 ,in the first place1 the beginning years of a deaf child's educational life are the most important of all4 ,they are crucial4 ,it is then he requires the highest skill1 the greatest experience1 and the most perfect conditions4 ,the best teachers can seldom1 if ever1 be induced to teach a single child in its home4 ,usually these teachers are more or less inferior4 ,but even the best teacher in the world cannot do for a little deaf child in his home what she could accomplish for him in a well-organized and properly conducted school4 ,neither the intellect nor the character of the deaf child can be as successfully developed1 after five years of age1 by a private teacher in his home as in a good school4 ,the following elements are essential for the highest educational welfare of a deaf child3 ,first4 ,the stimulus and incentive of association and competitive companionship4 ,second4 ,the contact with more than one mind and more than one speaker4 ,third4 ,the avoidance of becoming dependent upon some one as an interpreter1 and the cultivation of independence and self-reliance through constant practice with various teachers4 ,fourth4 ,a fully equipped and trained organization1 providing a complete and uninterrupted education under one head4 ,fifth4 ,regularity of life1 and the subordination of all living conditions to the highest educational advantage 7a thing utterly incompatible with home conditions74 ,these most necessary conditions are not possible of attainment through private instruction in the home4 ,the child who is kept at home and given private instruction too often grows up to be timid1 self-distrustful1 and unfitted to cope with the difficulties and oppositions of the world4 ,he falls an easy prey to temptation and is quickly discouraged by obstacles4 ,very often he is selfish1 narrow1 and overbearing4 ,not having those about him of his own age and with the same desires1 he has become accustomed to having people yield to his whims and fancies as child playmates would not yield4 ,he is more or less excluded from the plays and pleasures of childhood4 ,all those about him have an advantage over him4 ,on the other hand1 the tendencies of the school-bred child are to be simple1 natural1 and childlike4 ,his inclination to moodiness and suspiciousness is much less4 ,he is happier4 ,he becomes self-reliant1 independent1 and respectful of the rights of others4 ,he is less petulant and more obedient4 ,the wisest parents do not educate their hearing children at home1 nor should they attempt it with a deaf child4 ,,xxii ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,beginning ,i wish to lay very special stress upon the necessity at the beginning of the most expert and experienced instruction that is attainable4 ,if circumstances make it impossible to give to the child the best all the time1 then he should have the best at the start rather than later4 ,every effort and every sacrifice that are ever going to be made for the child's sake should be at the beginning of his school training1 and not delayed till he is older4 ,the years from five to eight or ten will determine his future success4 ,if he has poor teaching during these early years1 even the best teaching later will not be able to make up the loss entirely4 ,but if he has good teaching during the first few years1 then less expert teaching later cannot do him as much harm as it otherwise would4 ,the early years are his most crucial period1 and the best efforts should be expended then instead of when he is twelve or fourteen4 ,,xxiii ,,avoid ,,the ,,young ,,and ,,inexperienced ,,teacher ,between the ages of five and ten avoid the young and inexperienced teacher and the amateur as you would the plague4 ,unfortunately1 the idea is prevalent that any one can teach a little child1 but that it takes experience to teach the older pupils4 ,this is a disastrous fallacy4 ,young and inexperienced women are too often quite ready to assume the great responsibility of teaching a little deaf child4 ,they rush in where angels might well fear to tread4 ,unfortunately1 parents1 and even school superintendents1 are often too ready to permit them to do this dangerous thing4 ,,xxiv ,,on ,,entering ,,school ,through the courtesy of the ,volta ,review1 in which her article appeared1 and of the author1 ,miss ,eleanor ,b4 ,worcester1 a teacher of the deaf for many years1 and at one time the principal of a school1 ,i am able to include the following very sensible and valuable advice for the guidance of mothers when their children enter school4 ,,the ,,first ,,year ,,at ,,school ,,by ,,eleanor ,b4 ,,worcester ,at last the time has come when you feel that it is best for your boy to study with other children4 ,and since your own town does not offer him a suitable opportunity1 it is necessary to send the little fellow to one of the well-known boarding schools1 where trained and wise men and women are devoting their thought and energy to giving every advantage of education1 comfort1 and happiness to the little people under their care4 ,you have already decided1 after much thought and the writing of many letters--perhaps after a visit to the school you incline to most--just where it is best that the child shall go4 ,you have studied carefully all the directions about clothing given in the school catalogue1 and have made sure that every little blouse or stocking has its owner's name written or sewed fast on it1 and that all the small garments are in perfect order and ready for use4 ,but have you thought how your own attitude toward this change in your boy's life is unconsciously preparing him either to rebel against and fear school1 or to look forward to going there as one of the most delightful and interesting events of his life8 ,i know that it is impossible for you to avoid dreading the day when your child must go among strangers1 but ,i beg you not to let him see what your feeling is4 ,it will take all your resolution and all your courage to wear not only a cheerful face1 but a happy one2 but you must make your boy feel that a very delightful time is coming4 ,if you go about the necessary preparations as you might if he were going to the show or on a visit1 he will enter into the spirit of things with enthusiasm2 but if you once let him find you crying over his packing he will immediately jump to the conclusion that some dreadful thing is in prospect1 and will be entirely prepared to be frightened at being left at school1 and to break your heart by clinging to you and begging to go home again4 ,and1 more than this1 he will be far more likely to be homesick4 ,so1 since you know it is best for him to be in school1 and that it is the only possible road to happiness and usefulness1 why not lead him to anticipate the going2 to look forward to it as a treat1 and to feel that to be a schoolboy is really the great end of existence8 ,one of the first steps in this direction will be to help him understand a little what kind of a place he is bound for4 ,very likely the school you have decided on publishes an illustrated catalogue1 and weeks before school opens begin to show him the pictures of the school buildings and grounds1 and make him understand that on a certain day in ,september1 which you mark on the calendar with bright crayon1 you and he will go there4 ,let him see one of the little white beds where he will sleep after you return home1 the sunny dining room where he will eat his morning porridge and his ,sunday ice cream2 the playground full of rollicksome youngsters1 with whom he will seesaw and play tag by and by1 and the busy schoolroom1 where so many delightful and interesting things are sure to happen4 ,talk about all these things often and brightly and you will find that school has become a most desirable and fascinating place1 and that every night there will be a great satisfaction in climbing on a chair to scratch off from the calendar another day done before the joy of going there4 ,then you can buy such delightful things to be put into that waiting trunk--things often to be looked at1 but never to be used till that wonderful place is reached--long red and blue pencils1 with rubbers on the ends2 boxes of writing paper1 all gay with pictures and exactly right for the first letters home2 a foot rule1 and1 if you are a truly brave mother1 a real jackknife to sharpen the same red and blue pencils and add to the joy of living4 ,it is absorbing work1 too1 to mark them all with one's name1 so they may never be mistaken for any other little boy's property1 and to make a place for a new toy or two1 though if you are wise you will not buy many playthings now1 but will save them to send later1 one by one1 by parcel post1 to be received with a joy it is a pity you cannot be there to see1 it will be so out of proportion to any other pleasure you could give by such simple means4 ,of course1 you must have some kodak pictures taken--ever so many of them--showing the family1 the house1 and the pets1 as well as the boy himself4 ,these are to be kept1 too1 to go in letters4 ,they will be not only very precious possessions1 but if they are labeled carefully they will be extremely useful in the classroom when your boy begins to learn to speak the names of the people at home4 ,since they are to be used for this double purpose1 be sure that each member of the family group is very distinctly marked1 or the names of ,aunt ,mary and sister ,helen may get hopelessly mixed in the boy's mind6 ,finally1 the last little garment and the last package is in the trunk1 the last day is scratched off the calendar1 and the boy himself is on the train4 ,and now let me tell you something that you will not believe--that you will even resent1 but which is perfectly true1 and which ,i hope will comfort you a little when you say good-by to the boy--and that is this3 it really is very unusual for a little child from five to eight years old to be homesick at school4 ,there are so many distractions1 so many new and curious things to see1 so many interesting things to do1 and there are so many other children all friendly and all happy1 that even if your boy cries when you leave him1 the probabilities are high that before you reach the station he will be playing--shyly or uproariously1 as temperament may decide--but certainly happily1 with some new-found friend4 ,one of the most delightful things about a school for deaf children is the way all the other pupils welcome1 pet1 and look out for a newcomer4 ,every one makes much of him1 and it would be hard indeed to be lonely long in the midst of so much attention and friendliness4 ,and now a word about letters4 ,before you sent the boy to school ,i hope you didn't fail to teach him to recognize the written names of the different members of the family1 so that he might be sure to understand whom his first letters came from4 ,and don't forget that he will be eager for letters6 ,too many mothers feel that it is useless to write to their children during their first year away from them4 ,they are so sure that no word from them can be understood that they content themselves with sending inquiries to the proper authorities1 and an occasional picture postcard to the children themselves1 and fail to realize how soon their little boy or girl grasps the fact that the other children have real letters in envelopes1 and that these come from home1 or how sharp a disappointment it is when day after day goes by and brings them nothing4 ,if you could see1 as ,i have seen1 a letter1 so worn that it was cracked on all its folds and dingy with much handling1 carried day after day inside a little blouse1 or guimpe1 and put under the pillows every night1 you would understand a little what those pieces of paper1 covered with very imperfectly understood characters1 but carrying love and remembrance from home1 mean1 even before the children can read them4 ,and very soon1 if you are an observant mother1 your child will really be able to read them4 ,for example1 your boy's first letter may be something like this3 ,,dear ,,mamma3 ,i am well4 ,i love you4 ,,harry4 ,when you answer it you might say1 with the certainty that every word would be understood3 ,,dear ,,harry3 ,mamma loves you4 ,papa is well4 ,mamma and ,papa love you4 ,good-by4 ,,mamma4 ,not a very satisfactory letter1 do you say8 ,perhaps not to you1 but most delightful and understandable to the little boy to whom it is written4 ,and if a little later you follow it with another containing one of the kodak pictures of the cat1 with ,tommy written under it1 accompanying such a note as this1 not only your little boy1 but his teacher will bless you3 ,,dear ,,harry3 ,mamma is well4 ,papa is well4 ,mamma and ,papa love you4 ,tommy loves you1 too4 ,tommy is the cat4 ,tommy wants to see you4 ,good-by4 ,,mamma4 ,i have written these two notes not as models to be copied1 but to show you how with a little thought and care you may ring the changes on almost every sentence that your boy learns2 and make use of every new word1 giving him a great deal of pleasure and helping to fix the phrases in his mind and to make him realize that they are really valuable additions to his means of communication4 ,but ,i do not mean that you should confine your letters entirely to words and sentences that the child already knows4 ,in fact1 new expressions1 if they are short and simple1 and if the main part of your letter is made up of things the child understands at once1 will add very much to the interest of your letter4 ,he will be eager to know what the strange words mean1 and the new nouns1 verbs1 and adjectives will go immediately to swell his vocabulary4 ,like any child just learning to talk1 your little boy will at first use nouns1 when later he will use pronouns1 so in your earliest letters to him you will be surer of making yourself understood if you do the same4 ,probably1 too1 with the exception of two or three sentences like ,i am well4 ,i love you1 you will notice that all his statements are written in the past tense1 and that will be a guide to you to confine your own remarks to the past1 for the most part1 till you notice that he has begun to use the future and the present himself4 ,watch his letters carefully and adapt your own language forms to his4 ,there are two things that1 as a general rule1 ,i would advise you not to write about1 and these are any illnesses in the family and--that supreme joy of school life--the box you are planning to send4 ,my reasons for this taboo are that even very little children are often made unhappy and anxious1 sometimes for days1 if they know there is sickness at home1 while in the second place boxes are so often delayed that they become the source of much disturbance of mind when the expressman fails to bring them4 ,i knew a little girl who watched every delivery for a week and cried after every one because the box her mother had promised her did not appear4 ,so let illness and boxes go unmentioned till you can write something like this1 ,papa was sick last week4 ,he is well now4 ,he goes to the office every day4 ,and after the box has had time to reach its destination you can say1 ,mamma sent a box to you ,wednesday4 ,she put two handkerchiefs1 some new shoes1 six oranges1 and some money in the box4 ,papa gave the money to you4 ,if you are like most mothers1 before many weeks have gone by you will be eager to visit your boy and see for yourself how he is getting on2 whether he is really as happy as the letters from school assure you he is2 what he is learning in class1 and whether he has blankets enough on his bed and sugar enough on his oatmeal4 ,but before the letter announcing the day of your arrival is posted or your ticket is bought1 sit down by the fire and think the matter over4 ,you have confidence in the school1 else you would never have sent your boy there2 and you have been told repeatedly either that the little fellow is happy and well or1 it may be1 that he was rather homesick at first1 but has now settled down to a very comfortable and contented state of mind and is doing well in class4 ,now1 if you go to see him too soon after he has left home there will really be a good deal more danger that the boy will be homesick after you leave him than there was when you took him to school in ,september1 even if he has been quite happy up to the time of your visit4 ,in the first place1 he will think1 drawing his conclusions from visits that he may have made before1 that school is over and that you have come to take him home4 ,so it will be a great surprise and shock when you go away without him4 ,and in any case1 after the separation of some weeks1 his love for you will make him want to be with you1 and he will really suffer when you say good-by4 ,so1 if ,i were you1 ,i would wait till after the ,christmas holidays before going for my visit4 ,by that time he will be fully settled in his new life and will look on it as an established part of existence4 ,he will know from observation that other mothers come for a little while and then go home again without taking their children with them1 and his advance in understanding will make it much easier to explain to him that your visit is temporary and will not make any radical change in his own life4 ,the delay will mean a good deal of self-sacrifice for you1 but may very possibly save your boy from a sharp attack of homesickness1 while later in the year this danger will usually have disappeared1 and your visit will bring nothing but pleasure to you both and will help to make school what you want it to be--a place where all sorts of delightful things are constantly sure to happen4 ,,xxv ,,during ,,the ,,school ,,period ,but the opportunities and obligations of the parents of deaf children to aid in their education by no means cease when the children enter school4 ,throughout the entire period of school life1 and even after their children leave school1 the parents can be of very great assistance to them4 ,during the time that the school is in session1 if the child is away from home1 the parents should write not less than once a week1 and oftener if possible4 ,these letters should contain all the little happenings at home1 no matter how insignificant and uninteresting they may seem4 ,if these things are expressed in simple language1 using short sentences and common words1 the letters will be one of the most efficient means of aiding the children to an ability to read1 that the teacher possesses4 ,the child is full of eager curiosity to know the smallest details of the familiar home life4 ,he will exert his mind more to dig out the meaning of the language of home letters than he will to understand a story in a reader4 ,miss ,worcester has suggested one or two little letters that would do during the first half year at school4 ,by the beginning of the second year it would be helpful if the letters read something like this3 ,,my ,,dear ,,boy3 ,we got your nice letter4 ,thank you for it4 ,we always like to know what you do at school4 ,we like to know the names of your schoolmates4 ,we are glad when you tell us about your books and your teachers4 ,mother1 ,tom1 ,jane and ,i are well4 ,we talk about you often4 ,we are glad you can go to school4 ,a cat frightened the hens4 ,the hens ran4 ,the cat was naughty4 ,i drove the cat away4 ,i think the cat wanted to eat the little chickens4 ,tom hid behind the door4 ,he jumped out quickly4 ,he frightened ,jane4 ,she screamed4 ,he laughed4 ,jane cried4 ,mother scolded ,tom because he made ,jane cry4 ,tom said ,jane was a baby4 ,jane said ,tom was a bad boy4 ,then ,jane laughed4 ,she forgave ,tom4 ,tom said he was sorry4 ,we all love you4 ,good-by4 ,your loving ,,father4 ,each year the letters can be a little more grown up and they should always be frequent4 ,,xxvi ,,during ,,vacation ,when vacation time comes and the children come home for the summer1 the home folks will probably have some trouble at first in understanding their imperfect speech4 ,do not be discouraged4 ,the speech will steadily improve from year to year1 and you will soon be able to comprehend it1 even when it is very faulty4 ,but do not accept from the child anything except the best speech he is capable of4 ,when the boy first arrives you will1 probably1 not know just how much to expect of him4 ,to begin with1 it will do him no harm to ask him to repeat what he says1 even if you really did understand him the first time4 ,he will probably speak much more distinctly the second time than he did the first1 and you will see that you can demand of him more than you at first thought he could do4 ,he will not be discouraged by being asked to repeat4 ,he is used to it4 ,the price of good speech1 like the price of liberty1 is eternal vigilance4 ,during the school period1 teachers and parents should give unremitting attention to demanding of the children1 every time they speak1 the best enunciation of which they are at that time capable4 ,if you do not understand the boy1 or he does not understand you1 do not let him resort to gestures1 nor use them yourself4 ,give him pencil and paper1 if necessary4 ,it will not be necessary often or long1 and each day occasions of difficulty will grow fewer4 ,provide some useful and helpful occupation for the child for at least a part of each day4 ,do not let him play at random all the time4 ,continue a certain regularity of life in the matter of meals and getting up and going to bed4 ,insist upon respectful behavior and good manners4 ,he has these demanded of him at school4 ,do not let him return in the fall having lost much that he had gained during the preceding year4 ,when he is at home keep him in touch with the activities and the topics of discussion in the family circle4 ,do not let him withdraw or feel shut out4 ,this will take a good deal of effort and self-denial and patience1 but in the long run it will repay the parents4 ,failure to do this will eventually bring sorrow to all concerned4 ,train the other children to do their share of this4 ,insist upon their telling the deaf one their plans and their doings4 ,unless some care is taken he will see the others going without knowing where or why1 he will sometimes lose pleasures because he did not hear the talk that was going on around him and no one thought to tell him4 ,this has a tendency to make him bitter and unsocial4 ,from the very beginning of spoken intercourse with the deaf child the greatest care should be taken to speak ,,naturally to him4 ,avoid entirely all exaggeration of lip movement and mouth opening4 ,speak a little slowly1 perhaps1 and always distinctly1 but never with facial contortions and waving hands4 ,the aim of his oral training is to enable him to understand the ordinary speech of people when they speak to him1 and to do this he requires an immense amount of practice1 just as the hearing child requires a great deal of practice for years before he can understand what people are saying to him4 ,if you speak to him in a different way from that employed when speaking to others he will learn to understand that1 but not your ordinary manner of speaking4 ,he will also imitate it himself4 ,the ,chinaman speaks and understands only ,pidgin ,english because only ,pidgin ,english has been used in communicating with him4 ,if people had spoken to the ,chinaman as they do to other people he would have gradually acquired good ,english4 ,so it is with the deaf child4 ,if you want him to gradually learn to understand the ordinary intercourse of life1 you must exercise him in it for years4 ,you must not expect him to get much at first1 any more than you expect the baby to understand to start with4 ,but each month he will gain more1 and by the time he is sixteen or seventeen he will have very nearly overtaken his hearing brother4 ,but if you always address him with a yawning mouth and flopping tongue and lips1 and use deaf-mute ,english to him1 he will progress in his understanding and use of that1 but it is not what you wish him to acquire4 ,be patient1 be gentle1 be untiring and unremitting in your efforts1 but ,,be ,,natural4 ,keep your eyes on his eyes and speak only when his gaze is upon your face4 ,before closing ,i ought to say that 7more is the pity7 there are many persons who live by trading upon the ignorance and credulity of the unfortunate4 ,the deaf and the friends of the deaf fall an easy prey to the advertisements of quack remedies1 ear drums1 etc41 that are always useless and sometimes actually dangerous4 ,the ,american ,medical ,association has had the courage to issue a pamphlet in which these fake cures are described and exposed1 and every deaf person1 and parent of a deaf child1 should have one of these pamphlets4 ,the title is ,deafness ,cure ,fakes1 and can be obtained by writing to the ,american ,medical ,association1 #ece ,north ,dearborn ,street1 ,chicago1 ,illinois4 ,any one who has read these pages will easily see that the suggestions are all aimed to secure for the deaf a treatment similar in kind1 though somewhat different in degree1 to that accorded the normal hearing person4 ,the tendency has been to differentiate the deaf too much from the hearing4 ,by adopting the procedure of pure oralism1 effectively applied under real oral conditions1 uncontaminated1 during the educational period from five to twenty years of age1 by finger spelling or signs1 the deaf will be far more fully restored to a normal position in the social and industrial world than they can ever be by the silent methods at present so largely used during their most impressionable years4 ,,xxvii ,,some ,,nots ,do not be downcast4 ,deafness does not1 necessarily1 bring dumbness4 ,do not consider the deaf child as different from other children4 ,do not cease talking to him4 ,do not speak with exaggerated facial movements4 ,do not exempt him from the duties and tasks and obedience properly demanded of all children4 ,do not let him grow selfish4 ,do not let him grow indifferent4 ,do not be in haste4 ,do not show impatience4