The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-04-25
DEAF-MUTE LIFE.
A PAPER of Absorbing Inter
est to Utah.
TEACHING THE ALPHABET
,--,ss in the School-Ihe Importance
Of Educating those Deprived OF
Speech and Hearing.


s,,mer teacher Of Professor Fl. c.
White Of this city, and will be read
I'm particular interest at the present
time:
Prom the Youths Companion
lis estimated that about one in every
srreen hundred of the population Of the
,robe Is a deaf mute. This would make
me whole number more than a million.
In the United States, ther are about
tbirtv-five thousand deaf Inuses.
Several mistaken notions which are
prevalent regarding the deaf need to be
corrected. The deaf mute is not a fool,
neither idiot nor Imbecile; he is not a
moor unfortunate;" ne is not queer
or strange" he does not need raised
letters 10 read, nor does he excel in
music las some people oddly enough
sunpose); he IS neither a blockhead
nor a genius. A deaf mute institution
Is not a hospital or an asylum. but
school. Its pupils are not patients"
nor inmates but scholars.
The deaf mute Is, as a rule, bright and
auick. ike most other boys, he would
rather play than study, but he can and
does stu1y well, enjoy games of all sorts,
Is fond of fun and story books, Ii kes the
girls. and sometimes gets into mischief
In short, he IS very much like other
boys.
Deafmute girls, in the same way, and
for like reasons, are very much like
other girls.
Probably less than half of those who
are deprived of the sense of hearing
we're born deaf. The greater part OF
them have lost their hearing by scarlet
fever or meningitis or other disease.
But though the ear is closed, the eye is
wide open, and bright deaf mute often
seems 20 take in. through the eye alone,
as much as others gain through both
eye and ear.
While he stays at home, the deaf
mute child is dependent upon what par
ents and brothers and sisters can teach
him. But they lack the time, and the
special training, which would enable
them to give him the help he needs.
He can use his eyes and his fingers,
but he cannot ask questions, he cannot
be told, he cannot learn the names OF
things. He generally has few signs
which are understood between him and
his friends, but his life is cramped. and
he cannot pick up knowledge ike his
brothers who hear.
He must so TO a school specially
adapted TO his needs. He will there be
taught the names of the things he
knows, will learn words and what they
mean, and be taught 10 read, TO write
and to communicate with others.
Two methods are open TO him: one
that OF the sign language and the man
ual alphabet: the other, that of articu-
lation and lip reading. US enter {
chool room where the FIR method !:
used.
The teacher has before her perhaps
ten scholars, girls and boys, with books
pictures, states and blackbOards close a
hand. She shows the picture of horse
They all recognize it, for pretoria
language is the earliest, the most easily
understood. the universal language
Any one who can draw pictures can
talk with all the world.
Then the teacher writes under tho
picture the word horse" and makes
the scholars understand the word, jus
ike the picture, stands for. represents
the animal. They write the word upor
their states.
She next spells upon her fingers the
word horse, and teaches them to spell il
Lastly, she makes the sign for horse
two fingers held up on each side of the
head, to initiate the ears.) and make:
AA-EA4 AnAGAoAhlu AudI NIlS AAhCAlSt
stands for a horse. They learn TO make
the sign. Thus they learn four sym
bOls p t1-e, the written wOr l, thi
word spelled on the fingers, and the
sign, all meaning the same thing, 3
horse.
The hearing child would have. in place
OF these last two, the spoken word
which he learned long ago at home.
Vow the teacher walks across the
floor, and writes upon the board, u
walk She then spells 1t on her fingers
and makes the sign for walking. The
scholars Initiate her IN all these. I'll
they understand that all mean the same
thing. She tells the scholar to walk
and then write what he has done.
From day 10 day In this manner the
scholar learns the names of things, the
meaning OF new words and signs, anC
how 10 combine them so as to form sen
fences and express ideas. That is. b,
learss language. Then he can under
stand books, and can talk with other.
IN these three ways, writing, spelling
and signs.
He is restored to the world. from
which bis deafness seemed 10 cur hin
of. lie gains this knowledge Quit,
rapidly. Often the scholar enterin.
school IN the autumn Is able. the mex
spring 20 write upon q board or slat,
short sentences legibly and correctly
Hearing children seldom make bette
progress than that
OF course they make funny mistakes
known As deai-muusm, as do all chill
dreu and foreigners learning . new Ian
guage.
His mother whipped the boy" wa
rendered, His mother was a sad acci
dent 10 the boy"
sofa break. no sit, make glue,
was the record of a mishap. i wa
delightful 70 see you Is q common
mistake. But errors of this sort the
soon learn to correct.
Once started. the deaf mute pupil goe
on with his.schcol life, using the sam
text books, and advancing about q
last as his hearing brother. About eigh
yeas carry him through the primar
and grammar school studies. and one
two years more through the high schoS
course.
10 one seeing these scholars in Ii