New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-05-22
rs YOUR B4BY NORMALi
On Expert Tells HoD the Parent
Can ProUe It.

she watches the little newborn creature with
the most intense anxiety. The fear sometimes
haunts the parent that perhaps the babe is not
mentally perfect The father tries to solve the
problem, but his mind has nothing TO hold to-
hothlng to guide il to a conclusion few
chances may tell that the baby's body has all
The outward evidences of being normal, but the
parents endeaFors 20 understand the slowly
awakening mind prove futile How much
greater would be my Joy" a mother often saws
TO herself, Ii knew that my baby's brain Is
il should be-"
according to some experts however this sus-
pense is needless. They declare that the mind
OF baby is normal if the child is able TO do
certain things at certain ages 1t is ONLY when
the baby acts differently that fear may well
seize the mothers heart, a fear that her babe
may be foolish, that only its animal nature Will
grow while the mind remains dwarfed. slug
glsh. in sort OF continual twilight
According TO specialists. the mental symptoms
or the baby may even be reduced to a cata-
logue- "A normal child" says Dr. Louise Fiske
Bryson, in The Medical Critic" lis sensitive
TO light when q day two old. starts when
gently touched at the third day, tastes at the
end OF the first week, and strong odors cause
contortions during the first hours Of life. Food
bath. objects about him. please him during the
nrst month; tears overtake the baby when three
weeks old, and smiles come shortly after. Music
charms during the second month: then conso-
nants used for the first time; tickling causes
laughter, and objects can be clasped with four
fingers. At four months the baby begins to imi-
tate; sits up at the sixth month: stands without
support at the ninth month and walks at the
age OF fifteen months.
AT this period he also laughs, smiles gives a
kiss. repeats syIlables and understands q num-
Der Oh words From the twentieth to the TWEEN
ty-fourth month he executes orders on COM
mand. tries to sing beat time and dance to
music AT the age of three the child walks I'D
stairs unaided and speaks distinctly He begins
TO ask questions.
The sub-nornal child has not developed IN
this way. He is different say the parents
That sums up the whole situation-he is differ
ent from normal"
According to available statistics says Dr. Bry-
son. there are two feeble minded persons to
every thousand inhabitants, and to every five
hundred there five or six children not capa-
BILE Of being educated by the ordinary methods
OF instruction Feeble minded children she
adds, are generally fond Of music "can often
sing. even when unable to talk, can play on
some musical instrument alone or with others"
For such she recommends special physical ex-
ercises which tend to awaken the creative fac
ulties Of the mind
The symptoms OF the sub-norrnaI mind cannot
be classified, from the very nature of things as
the actions Of a normal child What con-
stitutes a backward, or deficient child?' asks
DR.. Bryson- How can you tell when you
see one? Not in ofhand way; yet there is
something that stamps the child as different
from his fellows The lack of command over
himself suggests Illness to the inexperienced
Some, perhaps many, Of the stignata Of degen-
Grafton may be present, physical signs Of imper-
lection, that lead the observer to infer the
quality Of the Individual The roof OF the mouth
may be high and narrow, the teeth irregular
and misshapen, the lobe OF the ear attached to
the side OF the head. the arms too long in pro-
portion 10 bodily height, or the hands and feet
may show abnormalities Of structure.
'At the time. Il must be remembered
that It is not how child looks that Classics
him. but what he does, what he is. what he loves
and seeks'