Evening star., 1897-06-05
EDUCATING THE "NEGAT1vE, EAR.

Training of Children With This Af-
Fiction.
From the Chicago Tribune.
The education of the negative" ear is
to be made speciality in Chicago. For
some time there has been a school conduct
ed in the city where children afflicted with
this strange trouble received training but
though much attention was paid to the
negative" ear there were numerous other
branches CT instruction carried on-devel-
oping imperfect speech and the like-and
the work was divided. Now, however,
Mrs. Lour sbury. the discoverer Of the
negative" ear. has decided to devote her
efforts to that especially.
The discovery of the nature of the mega
tive ear is a comparatively recent one,
and was made by Mrs. Lounsbury through
one of her pupils in deaf mute asylum.
For ten years Mrs. Lounsbury had been
training the inmates of the asylum in
ticulation without the least suspicion that
any of them were other than they seem,
Until 1t was suddenly made clear to ner that
one at least, Of her pupils could hear,
though without appreciating the different
shades of tone. That sound was at all per-
ceptible disproved the supposition that the
pupil was a deaf mute. Mrs. Lounsbury
investigated the case and discovered the
negative" ear, which she calls sort of
"color blindness of the ear a lack of the
appreciation of sounds, though the sounds
are heard. The sense of appreciation Of
the different shades of tone is often SO
utterly lacking in d child that, instead of
learnirg to speak as other children do it
constructs from the imperfectly heard
sounds a language of its own, SO wholly
unintelligible to any one else that it resem-
bleS the chickering's of idiots. Indeed, many
cases have been found where children have
been sent to an idiot asylum on no stronger
evidence than this. Still more often they
never learn to make any sounds at all,
and turned to the institutions for
deaf mutes.
To educate such children as deaf mutes
deprives them of nearly all power to
achieve success in life; to treat them as
feeble-minded is even worse. But until
withir few years their case was not
understood.
Mrs. LOT olnsbury discovered nine children
possessed of the negative ear. They
could hear as we'll as any one, hear even
whisper. but they were utterly unable to
discern shades Of tone, and so could not
understand language. In an eastern school
she once found a young woman who had
spent ain est her whole life in the insti
tuition, had learned the sign language and
lip-reading, ard yet could hear perfectly.
Had this fact been discovered early in
life, six months or a years training would
have fitted her to enter the public schools
and obtain an education with other children.
But she had never made a sound, and her
parents thought her deaf and mute.
Among the pupils afflicted in this way
now receiving instruction IN speech tnere
are two particularly interesting cases. One
is that of a small boy of twelve years.
whose parents thought him an idiot ard
whose language is so twisted and filed with
SubstltutionS of incorrect sounds that no
one who has not made study of his at
tempts can understand what he says. Yet
he is bright, active and talkative, and
thinks he can talk-a common delusion
among persons so troubled. He has been
studying row only two weeks, but already
his speech is becoming better. and one or
two words spoken in every sentence are
clearly spoken The other is that Of a
young man. who had grown to manhood
speaking language wholly unintelligible
was the matter with him. In month he
has learned to talk fairly well, and in a
few months more will be in a position to
enter upon active business life.
The method of curing the negative" ear
Is no less strange than the trouble itself
child through words spoken by others, or
1t would have learned in the natural man
ner. 1nste ad, the process is reversed. The
child Is taught to speak correctly by in
and tongue. and the words spoken are
made to teach the ear. The child's own
tongue cultivates its ear. No other tongue
can do 1t.
where for the treatment of this strange
disorder, but those interested in the saw
Ing of such children from the idiot and
deaf mute asylums hope for appropria-
tion to establish a school in Illinois for the
treatment OF those whose parents are too
poor to obtain help In any other way. The
need of such a school is proved, Mrs. Louns-
bury thinks. by the fact that she has re-
ceived an average Of fifty letters from
each state in the Union, written by paren,s
but too poor to send them to a private
school for treatment.