Weekly national intelligencer., 1850-02-23

intelligent We called some Of them from their ard
asked them read story fable. They did at
We entered into conversation with them they could
understand stranger well those to whom they wee
accustomed. Ar first necessary speak rather slower
than usual but with this change understood
fectly
II was beautiful to witness the interest depicted on the
counenances of these unfortunate children When address,
ed they fixed their eyes upon the speaker If they would
read h nmost thoughis And as they comPehended him.,
reading, he spoke his ideas in the motions Of his lips
expression of Joy stole their countenances and lighted
up every feature they did clearly comprehend what
said, they looked distressed and doubtful And when
they had completely mastered the speakers meaning they
would clap their hands with delight They appeared like be-
inss revelng in the enjoyment Of They telt
nexpressbe pleasure the simple of communicating
with their fellow beings. t%'
The following is brief outline of the manner in which.
this wonderful result Is obtained.
In order understand this Is necessary premise that
all he Inc hnman voice may be ana 1ed INTO those
produced by the lips, the tongue, and the hros' All the
possible sounds Of the human voice produced by OF
these alone, Ivy OF these combined. Take.
example, the sounds represented by PR The fret p
produced by the lips Alone The BREATH Of assists
in its formation but speaking Of the apparaus-
OF the instrument not Of the air which through it,
The second, is produced by The tongue alone The throat
and lips have nothing DO with it. The third a, IS pro-
duced by the throat say by the chest without
the agency Of the tongue lips Now. if deaf child can
be taught to initiate the motions of anohers lips when the
expiration, he will produce the sound And when
he the motion of the lips he will recognise
familiar sign All sounds have corresponding motions, which
might be called their physical signs expressed by the ps
tongue mouth, or combination Of them. deaf child
speaks when he make these signs and comprehends
when he recognise them in others This the task TO
be accomplished III in fact substituting the eye for the
The former madeto catch the minute differences OIL
notion which play around the mouth during conversation as
the latter does the varying shades Of sound what have
already said shows only the possibility OF doing this, bu
All the letters Of the alphabet printed separately on lit
tie square cards The instructor takes OF these cards
and child who has heard sound, given uerance
TO any thing, unmeaning cry groan he puts
the chds finger before his mouth and pronounces s
sound p instance. II is necessary to begin with the Up
sounds such as p, b. &C., which the simplest Ine
child feels current air upon his fingers and peculiar
motion Of his teachers lips He soon endeavors TO initiate
this, by holding his fingers before his mouth and blowing
and making the motions After few trials aided and
encouraged by patient and sku instructor he is able to
produce the sound quite accurately He is then shown
card, with the letter printed upon it. In very short me
associates the two together that whenever he sees the
letter p which the printed sign, the motion p which
the physical sign he recognises familiar object In ms
way the teacher goes through all the lip sounds and the
child taught not only pronounce the sounds but 70 write
their signs. The tongue sounds such r. I, a. aud me
Hike, next taught When be pronounce and write
these accurately he taught the throat sounds as de q ~
&c. These the most difficult. In teaching them, the
chds finger placed upon the nstruces throat or Adam
apple, while the latter pronounces for example, the letter O.
The child feels peculiar Temu0us motion on the muscles
the throat and transferring his finger to his own threat
hs attention by the previous instruction has been aroused
sharpencj endeayors produce the same action Ae
Ia hle depending pon the intelligence of the child and ne
tact of The teacher he succeeds in accomplishing this Ia
cases. should be remembered ne s taught TO associate
], the motion with the letter sign upon the card,
l. The step conbne these sounds, or, deal
would say these motions The teacher selects FOR .hI
: purpose two cards upon one Of which lip sign is Prlnsd
: The other throat sign and a. AT this stage the
pupil has Of COURSE become familiar with the Separate sounds
Of the alphabet The teacher holds up card with upor
lit the pupil fronounces the sound He holds up anoth
e with upon il, the child says ap and BY watching ihs
teacher who the combined sound is soon augh
the syllable APP. He is then shown third card with ar
printed upon il, and is made familiar with the sign and hs
sound Tie position Of the letters next reverssa snd he
taught 10 combine the sound and motion p with the sond
and motion a. as pa And with other sounds at,
to- ca, and the like Gradually, he proceeds other comb-
nations, as cat dog, In this he learns all the
monosy Liable combinations Of the language. Whenever lie
earns sound which Is the Of any thing, church,
horse girL he is shown card which the object is
painted and thus taught to associate the sign with the
thing sgnifed When he has mastered the monosy Liable
signs he proceeds the dssylabc and thence poysya
bes It's beauifa to see how ineny and earnestly the
pupil watches his instructors face and endeavors to catch
every shade Of notion And, when the former succeeds in
faithfully reproducing sign, his countenance becomes ra-
dan with delight g
stiiuon When child read the motions Of the speak-
ing apparatus with sufficient facility understand single
w,,ts pronounce them correctly and write them, he
leaves this and enters the second class The st
and uos, difficult step ha. been akenhe chief obstacle hss
been overcome He pow prepared for higher grade OF
instructions. -sE Ea .ga
Simple words and ideas taught IN me nfst c'ass Tue
scholar has been taught 10 combine letters Ia sngie wors
10 recognise them when spoken, and TO attach ideas H. The
he next 10 learn The manner Of combining words
encss that to acquire the power Of expressing and COM
pretending compicafd ideas This is no easy task The
cn'd cannot enter into conversation yet He ignorant of
the Wh' ie class OF verbs, relatives propositions &c. which
express the various relations Of subsanives each other
tie conpehends the words, the physical signs, fo dog and
aaH, but the sentence, the dor bit the man.
him no idea Of the action e The of expressing
ion being relation, quality, still mystery kim This
Is TO I've unoded to him. and he is still deaf and almost
METHOD resembling the hieroglyphics Of the arcien,
Egyptians, the picture writing of the Aatecs s employed
IN attaining this object All the ordinary actions every
day life represented large coored plates Undernea
each plate there sentence, which describes the action
pictured above For example, child, which has just
ed the second class is shown plate, which represents boy
batting ball. lie familiar with the signs boy and 6ah.
and soon recognises in the sentence the Loy bats the ball.
description OF The action. The teacher pronounces the
sentence, the pupil initiates the combined motions Of The Eps
and ponounces also. Thus another step is taken After
the child has in this way become familiar with simple
es ieas, he proceeds complicated He is
shown pictures OF men, working trades; Of
employed in household duties Of public assemblies churches
aud schools; of soldiers battle and citizens Home OF
inis idos performing sections Of kindness and generosity,
also oi meanncss deception OF animals, BIRDS and fishes
OF landscapes, filled with every variety OF life with which
Nature teens IN short, of almost every thing with which