The star. (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1874-1875, 1875-01-25
Educating a DeafMute.


a pretty and lively girl, about six years
old, who was totally blind and deaf, and
who had only very indistinct sense of
smell, so indistinct, that like other
young deaf mutes, who are continually
smelling at things, she did not
smell at her food. This sense after
wards developed itself little, but was
never much used or relied upon by her.
She lost her senses by scarlet fever so
early that she has no recollection of any
exercise OF them. Her father was SUBJ
stantial farmer, and his wife a very in
telligent woman. My proposal to try to
give regular instruction to the child
seemed to be very wild one. But the
mother eagerly assented to my proposal,
and in few days little Laura was
brought to my house in Boston, and
placed undeS regular instruction by
lessons improvlsed for the occasion. My
principal aim and hope was to- enable
her to recognize the twenty-siX signs
which represent the letters of the alpha
bet. She submitted to the process pa
tiently, though without understanding
its purpose. | first selected short mono
syllables, so that the sign which she
was to learn might be as simple as pos
sible. ! placed before her on the table a
pen and pin; and then, max
ing her take notice of the fingers of one
of my hands, Iplaced them in the three
positions used as signs of the manual al
phabet of deaf mutes, for the letters
D n, and made her feel of them, over
and over again, many times, so that they
might be associated together in her
mind. l did the same with the pin, and
repeated it scores OF times. She at last
perceived that the signs were complex,
and that the middle sign of the one, that
is, the e, differed from the middle sign
OF the other, that is, 1. This was the
first step gained. This process was
repeated, over and over, hundreds
of times, until, finally, the association
was established in her mind between the
sign composed of three signs, and ex-
pressed by three positions of my fingers,
and the article itself; so that, when l
held up the pen to her, she would herself
make the complex sign; and when 1
made the complex sign on my fingers,
she would triumphantly pick up the pen,
and hold it up before me, as much as to
say, This is what you want Then
the same process was gone over
tion in her mind was intimate and COM
plete between the two articles and the
complex positions of the fingers. She
had thus learned ,two arbitrary signs, or
names, of the two different things. The
first step had been taken successfully,
and the only really difficult one, for, by
the same process, she could
go Oh, and learn to express in signs two
and finally, the forty and odd
thousand signs, or words, in the English
language.
Il went on with monosyllables, as be-
ing the simplest; and she learned gradu-
ally one sign of letter from another, un-
til she knew all the arbitrary, tangible
twenty-siX letters of the alphabet, and
how to arrange them to express various
the like. Afterwards she learned the
names Of the ten numerals or dig
its, of the punctuation and excla-
nation and interrogation points,
some forty-six in all. She had
thus got the open sesame to the whole
treasury Of the English language. She
seemed aware. of the Importance of the
progress, and worked at it eagerly and
taking up various articles,
and inquiring by gestures and looks
what signs upon her fingers We're to be
put together in order to express
their names. At times she was too
radiant with delight to be able
to conceal her emotions. 1t sometimes
occurred to me that she was like q
person alone and helpless in a deep,
lark, still pit, and that L was letting
down cord, and dangling it about, in
she would seize it by chance, and cling.
ng to it, be drawn up by it into the light
If day, and into human society. And
t did SO happen; and thus she in
and unconsciously, aided in
Ter happy deliverance. Having mas
;ered the system of arbitrary signs, made
)y various positions OF the fingers used
~ deaf mutes, and called dactylology,
he next process was to teach her to rec
,gnize the same signs in types, with the
outlines OF the letters embossed upon
heir ends. Thus with types, two EN-
)ossed with ., two with n, one with e.
md another with !, she.could, by setting
hem side by side in the quadrilateral
loles in the blind mans slate, make the
ign of pen or pin, as she wished, and so
With other signs.
"And SO she went on, diligently and
happily, for score or more of years, un- /
il at last she acquired large vocabu. |
ary of words. and could converse
eadily and rapidly with all deaf mutes,
md all persons who could use these !
igns. She could read printed books |
eadily and easily, finding out
or herself, for instance, any chap
er and verse of Scripture. She could |
.lso read letters from her friends, in |
,ricked type, or by the Braille system OF
Ioints. She could also write down her |
wn thoughts and experiences in diary, |
nd could keep up correspondence with |
er family and friends, by sending to !
hem letters in pencil, and receiving |
heir answers either in pricked letters, |
which she could read by the touch, or |
etters written with ink or pencil, which |
ould be read to her by some confidential |
eeing person. Thus was she brought at |
asst into easy and free relations with her |
and made one OF the |
uman family.
This was indeed wonderful success;
or of the five senses ordinarily allotted |
D mankind, Laura had in perfection but |
of touch. DR.. Howe says "She |
ras almost without any sense of smell |
7hen l first knew her. 1t improved some-
1hat in after years, but never became |
ormally keen. Her nicely of touch |
7as marvellous, even when 1 first knew |
er, and is more so now. She can recog- |
ize me amid crowd OF visitors, alter |
N absence of a year or more, although |
he did not expect me, by merely grasp |
ng part of one OF my hands, or even a |
olitary tore-fnger, and will instantly |
lap her hands, and pat me on the arms,
nd laugh heartily" No wonder the
oor child (now a middle-aged wOman)
ould recognize her Deneiactor under |