The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-07-06 00:00:00

ORAL TEACHING OF THE DEAF.

The annual meeting of the Association for the Oral In-
struction of the Deaf and Dumb was held on Monday in
London, at the Steinway Hall, Lower Seymour-street, under
the presidency of the Marquis of Lansdowne, and there were
also present the Marchioness of Lansdowne, Lord Granville,
Lord Hampton, Sir G. W. Dasent, Mr. Leopold de Roths-
child, Sze., Szc.

The Marquis of Lansdowne, on taking the chair,
said the great object of the institution was to provide
for children who were deaf mutes not only an educa-
tion, but to teach them to speak and to understand
what was said by watching the movement of the lips.
The system which was pursued rested on the principle
that in deaf mutes the organs of speech were dormant,
and that it was possible to rouse their powers so as to
nable them by patient imitation to utter articulate
solnds, and then by associating the-e sounds with the
ordinary ideas which form the basis of human language
they might be enabled to si eak like those who were
.in the lull enjoyment of their senses. The society
was of Continental origin, and owed its establishment
to the munificence of a lady whose name was never
mentioned without affection, and whose munificent
interest in the work was continued by her daughter,
Lady Rosebery. (Cheers.) There were at the present
time 30,000 deaf mutes in the United Kingdom, while
there was accommodation for only 3,000. (Hear,
bear.) Under these circumstances, he confidently
asked aid towards extending the benefits of a system
so admirably adapted to its purpose. (Cheers.)
A large number of the children were then examined,
the auditors being invited to take part. All the chil-
dren were born deaf and dumb except one boy, and
he become so at four years of age, after a severe
attack of scarlet fever. The examination covered the
range of subjects taught in an ordinary school; the
answers were given with great accuracy as to fact,
and it might also be said with precision as to pro-
nunciation, the sounds uttered by the children being
so articulate as to be easily intelliAble to the listeners.
Mr. Van Praagh (the director of the school), in ad-
dressing the questions to the children, unwed his lips
exactly as it he were speaking aloud, and by watching
the lip movements the pupils apprehended the question.
Mr. Melville Bell, the inventor of the telephone, and
others, made remarks which the children repeated
without error. Lord Granville suggested that the first
sentence in the report should be written on a black
board by one of the pupils, and this was done, Mr. Van
Praagh moving his lips as if repeating the words, the
pupils meanwhile watching those movements, and
glancing only occasionally at the board. His lordship
pronounced the result exceedingly satisfactory.
The Chairman,, t the close,rernarked upon the patience
which the system required, and the perseverance and
gentleness which were shown in dealing with the chil-
dren. There were now training teachers who, he hoped,
would obtain recognition from the school board, so
that these benefits might be extended. He was glad
to notice the progressive improvement in the scholars,
and complimented the hon. secretary, Mr. Assur
Moses, on the success attending the work in which he
was so diligently engaged.