The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-01-04
HELEN KELLER.
The Manner In which She Was Taught
to Speak and to Read Speech.

Tho Manner In which She Was Taught
to Speak and to Read speech.
Helen Keller is q household mans bot t
In America and foreign lsnos. She Ii
blind as well az deaf. That the wall
OF silence and darkness which shut her
from the world have been broken down,
that her soul has been set free, and the
seal of silence taken from her lips, seems
miraculous to those who know not how
10 was done. Ihe limits of this article
viii permit only the briefest outline Of
her story.
| Rendered both deaf and blind at nine
teen months by severe illness, she passed
the first seven years of her life in silence,
darkness and ignorance. Who could have
suspected the exquisite soul imprisoned
In that mute and darkened bodyf A
bright, patient, loving woman came, and
the miracle began.
There vas only one possible avenue of
approach TO the beless uered soul The
sense Of touch remained, and to that the
teacher, Miss Annie M. Sullivan addressed
her efforts. Through finger selling the
child ct length obtained the idea of lam
guage, and with this key other doors
could be unlocked. Having naturally a
fine mind, she learned rapidly when once
started, aud developed q phenomenal
memory.
While Helen received information only
through manual spelling and In limited
amount, she never forgot. To tell her
something was like writing 1t in a book.
When you wished the fact again months
or even years afterwsrd, you had only to
ask for 1t. But later. as she began to read
books, to meet other people and to re-
ceive Impressions through more channels
and In larger mum bers, her memory ceased |
to be SO absolutely reliable.
Until she was IL years of age her only |
means of communication was by finger |
spelling. Then at her own urgent request
she was given lessons in speech by Miss
Fuller, principal of the Horacs Mann
school. The rapidity with which she
acquired the ability TO speak was nnpre-
cedented. She soon abandoned finger
spelling a means of expression, and has
every since used speech alone. But Others
still had to communicate with her by
their fingers. She then expressed a strong
wish to learn to read the lips by touch
Ing them with her fingers. For the pur-
pose OF attempting this difficult task and
10 get special training In speech she came
20 the wright-H1mason School in New
York city. During the twc years that she
'emained there she succeeded In SECURING
he power OF understanding people when
hey spoke to her, ano at the same time
pursued regular courses of study in arith-
netic, history, physical geography, French
nd Gerrnan. She has read much of the
'est literature, and Is VERY Intelligent
m the topics OF the dsy. Her own speech |
n now excellent, and she has entered a
,irPs school In ambridge, Massach usetts,
ghere she is taxing a course preparatory
or Radcliffe College.
When being SPOKEN to she Places her
ndex finger lightly upon the lips. while
be other fingers rest upon the cheek, the
niddle one touching the nose. Her !,
humb Is upon the larynx. This position
ives her the greatest possible informs-
ion concerning the elements of which
peech is composed. -"Speech and Speech
eading for the Deaf" by John Dutton
fright In the January Century. =