The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-12-15
APPARENT STUBBORNNESS
ON THE PART OF CHILDREN NOT
ALWAYS INTENTIONAL.
SAD CASE OF LITTLE BOY
He Was Punished, Mistreated and Mis-
judged for Something OF Which
He Had No knowledge
Whatever.

Ihere nre many Instances Of apparent
stunOornness on the part of children which
1pom, tnorougn Investigation, have been
FOUND to arise from some defect in beor.
Tug OF seeing Many OF these defects ran
only ne Determined by specialists. mi any
cnlid' backward In any way. should he care
~ =, miner 70 see where, II possible
ths dlulculty Hes and TO correct t.
Inc following is one OF the most extreme
most pathetic: " '
The mothers statement I'm tbia csso ,,,s
thht ever since her boy was hobv no
nau given her great deal of trouble from
ulOit OF shocking things over" AS his
vSts were perfect ana he could see the oh
ycu'S lno pay with them, his parents did
not suspect there was any defect In his
sight, aud consequently be was punished
loI Wh9t appeared to be wllful mischief
ana, WnAt was SIN worse, trying 10 lie
himself out OF the punishment by saving
ne ala not see the things there. This de-
termined persistence in lylng was the cause
Oh aIl lls aulictious; IL was, however nc
SompauIeu ny an agsgayating habit of max.
ing sIlmates at the person questioning
nina sure Sign OF mental dcprayity.
As Is frequently the case with children
this boy resented the llltreatnent by stole
endurance while under the rod thereby
gaining the additional stigma OF being VIC
luus and lncoriglbic.
with such a character gnlned Mt home he
was taken TO an asylum for feeble mi ndcd
infants Tor the purpose of being disciplined
~ hrst; In the new surroundings. he
nrl-htened up, but 1t was not long before
the teacher had fun evidence of his ob-
! HiUacy Inc importance oil beginning right
was tully understood and the teacher tax.
Ing an object In her hand and holding It
pr.ofc the boys ta,c. asked him. while
De was TO an appearances looking directly
AT II: what Is the name Of the object
~ my hand The child twisted his face
MP ana with grimace, asked. what o.
J'ctf His head was held to face the oh
y'tt ana a correct answer demanded, then
followed the usual answer: Il can not see
anything, For such obstnucy and pre-
ishment.
1he child was DESTROYS Of pleasing his
tea her and watched her closely, so that he
could occasionally name the object held up.
[ Ials, however, only made his conduct at
other times less tolerable. AS crucial
test the. teacher would hold a pin before
the boys face, and upon his statement
that he could not see anything the point
would be brought In contact With his nose
he would cry out: at is a pin" Severe
punishment followed this experiment.
Fortunately for the child he became sick.
Or. Mllam who Is now assisting me in thi s
city, being Interested in the peculiar condl.
tion OF the boy, an examination OF his
eyes was decided upon and | was called In
ceonsultn ton After a thorough examina'
! ton we found that there was serious de-
/ feet In the chid's sight, but the exact nat.
| ure OF II was not easily determined.
After this the child was treated less
severely, but all his endeavors to prove him.
| self truthful were futile, and the poor lit
tie fellow pined away slowly and died.
AZ the req lest OF the physician the
hoy's f brain was given to us for examna
disconnected, which would render 1t I'm
/ pts',ble for tho child to see any object II
front OF his face, but that he could Sc,
| all objects On either side of him. but only
by twisting his head and shutting one
eve would he he able TO sec thugs II
front Of him.