The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-17
4 sEEoNp RELeN RELlEA



Veag ~ t49ta eHts
re 49, " slevena yras ,ela Maud aesft
esssulaaa " svsl thae n lleleW NsltHf N
ineerpst Uta hfd 10 #id ~ " the oHly
~esaaenRally Hind sWt deaf perpru stess
efacafiua has turrn unytWstaheu
ina extraordinary paH ~ ltr Fofy u
thee ~ Nv ire fins lfE ~ I yeasa uNd
ssstd Anti hsd nyel eBsisrly IN q efsdie
fWads ~ heg uar Nh = thiNa has hpea
fane Nv teart hNf INA ntefrst ~tpaiNaiaaN "
Nuftnal eeiateaer.
~ M nj hess thsg sbs cpild stand
~ N ~ Nslh When slia wsa tahon ~ the
ii,stltitlae fur tho dnaf and ddmb ~ 1sch.
EN- Mia even prominent sgttcatofa pro-
staihcNt M cRas hotsless
Liza Helsu heller, Wt,se Maud acott
'gind Q teachef who was willing ~ devUts
heFpif sven w . appmlnGiv hopsiesa taae,
Ihe tesobef WAa Nsp N 4 Bodkin,
he hset taah undertaken, eays the Nev
Orleans fimeeD em0crdl, we 10 teach hef
thu Bss u her lowst and upteF Limits, She
waa llIed from the cfadls sud held IN q
standing rosturs, and after days u patient
ps~rasvsruncs. 10 the darkness ~ Maud's
mind. thsrs catns ~ first light She ~as
NINMVN NuNN NNEEN WIZ uNN wv NNFN W HNGu9
and waih On. and that the standing posture
was proper, and the custom 81 other people
In Tho world,
10 was then svidsncsd 10 her mind that
the cradle she had oocupsed for ssvvn years
wss 20 bs used In future only for rest. Tu-
torina the little agtns and hands was the
next undertaking. II was made clear 10
Maud that her arms and hands wers given
hor not merely 10 be wavered In darkness
from a cradle. A hall was plaoed In the
hand Maud's fingers were pressed about
II.
She vas given this object To handle day
after day, and finally abe became acquainted
with t.. She was familiar with the shape
and size, and when u had one day been
changed TO one slightly different In proper
tions, the little girl noted the difference In
her facial expression.
This was the first evidence Of the work
ings Of the mind Of this benishted child;
Before this time, at intervals, MAUD had
felt her lips pressed open ny some oval
pointed object and food was put In her
mouth. That was all she knew OF eating.
She had no idea Of the necessity OF this
process, and II certain tastes pleased her
there was no method Of communicating the
fact that they might be repeated: III she
might become hungry. before serving thne
there was nothing to do but wait.
Mrs. Bodkin acquainted Maud with the
process of feeding herself. Almost for
endless days the pupil at table beside the
teacher, q spoon was pressed into her and
the fingers were closely pressed about IL.
and a motion Of conveying 1t from platter
to mouth was repeated.
The mind finally grasped some meaning
of all this. She came to know that when
she was seated at table and a spoon was
placed in her hand there was before her
something TO eat. She began to know
how to feed herself.
With these things conveyed to the mind
of this little deaf, dumb and blind child,
the next thing Mrs. Bodkin undertook was
a means of word communication between
tutor and pupil. The Braille method OF
conveying ideas through the means OF
the finger tips in the palm OF the hand Vas
adopted, the system tina HELEN heier
had tried 80 effectively
"Her little fingers had to be pressed into
position an infinite number OF times, sald
Mrs. Bodkin. before she ever came TO
what it meant, and that she could
by different tapping Of her fingers on my
palm indicate what was in her mind i
To-day Maud knows her alphabet and
has a vocabulary Of about 200 words, ohlefiy
nouns and verbs.
Sentences conveyed to her by the teacher
in simple language are readily UNDERSTOOD
She can max replies.
She reads her lessons in Braille and makes
on a typewriter. She has not as
vet been taught script. 1t is the ambition
Of this child now to learn writing and to
compose a letter to her mother. She Is
present able to dictate messages. but
that does not satisfy. She wants to write
the communication with her own hands.
She loves to play.with the other children
Of the institution and is a ~favorite with them.
Mrs. Bodkin says that Maud jumps with
Joy when told that she is going for a street
car ride. She has a general idea OF the form
the car and will get on her knees upon
the seat and press her face to the window
pane as other children do and as If she
were looking out.