The Washington times., 1914-03-13
URGES OPPORTUNITY
FOR ABNORMAL PUPIL
Educator Declares All Are
Forced to Progress at Level
Of Average Student.

With the highest educational ana pup
fIc Endorsement. not only OF the on'.eo
States but of the world, DIR. MaXinliiah
J., T.. Groszmann, Of Plainfield, n. j. y
in Washington, to deliver serles vi
addresses before important societ'es' oii
the work of the society OF winch ne Is
the founder and head, the National AS
sociation for the Study and Educatioh oi
the Exceptional Child
DR.. Groszmann is not here Ior per
sonal financial gain in his lectures. fie
comes, practically at his own expense III
the interest Of the cause.
Wednesday night he addressed .-
District of Columbia Medical Associa-
tiou. before an audience interested IN
and in sympathy with his views
will be in the city until Iuesoay an y;
Practically every moment OF ms .i
:spoken for" He spoke at the I'm
tartan Church this morning. Inc tnel,ie
cf his discourse while from ulilereiII
snrics and aspects is always the same
the education Of the chlld
Not Only Dehcients.
The nurpose of Dr. Groszmann lee
.ures has not been Generally understood.
He wishes to emphasize the fact tha'
he is not. In his lectures here, gcihs
N ,sIk about defective children
While he is an export on the suo1ecI
h,. tonic will be the necessity 1or CIV
ing the exceptional children the oppor-
,uni,iaS for their individual develop
ynant made necessary by their depart
ure from the normal , c.
In his address before the Medlcal 20
ciety at George washington ohin ,.,,na,
S,cdical School DIR. Groszmann outhheo
the general idea of his cause ano toucn-
cd upon the needs Of WASHINGTON, 10
make the schools give more aeten,lot 10
the ply ysical needs OF the puPiiS- An
sneskjnC of the meeting. he sald:
I'm the discussion which succeeded my
,.marks last night before the Meocai
SooItky. DR.. Woodward arose Iirsl anu
scceeding to the Suggestions OF lhspe.
ttonal deficiencies, stated that .ne hie T1.n
cal insnAction In the schools OF the Dis-
~, Was very insufficient and that the
snrvices of the head of the association
which I represent could renoer eIeae
service to the community by bringing
about sentiment LOT Hhe "
proving the system.
Have No Nurses.
They have no school nurses at all
and very small staff Of visiting phy-
s.cians When two dentists were ap-
no,nted as an addition to the inspec-
r,on staff, two physicians were dis
charged to make room for them In
view of the fact that dental troubles
are so prevalent see what a drop IN
the bucket two dentists are. with ap-
I-oximately 5000 children to inspect,
Hith some millions Of teeth to be ex-
amined.
the forces of Washington together 70
aY;,iate with the national movement,
SO that the national movement may be
strengthened and back up the local e1-
forts.
co,nn1itteo which will represent the va
rjeus existing societies. for the purpose
of focusing their efforts and unityins
the work. We naturally want the n
napriaI support for the National So
ciety; otherwise our hands are tied and
NE can give no help.
Classics Children
DIR. GrosZmann says:
children are classified under three
ma jor heads. normal children. subnor'
mai children, and abnormal children
each in turn divided into lesser classes
.An endeavor has been made to cs-
tablish a generally acceptable general
ocy. There has been a considerable
confusion in the acceptance OF descr1p'
tive terms, and the classification Is
made in an effort TO standerdize the
I'm the great group of normal chill,
tr.n there are many called subnorTna
or defective, but all have normal po
tentiais in more or less developed
strength. and are consequently poten
italy normal: that is, with the proper
care they may be made thoroughly
normal
Yet among subnormals there is Z
great opportunity for making good citi
zrrs Among the subnormals there
stands out the case of Helen Keller, who
notwithstanding her deprivation of al
and q
become famous as an author, and is
shining example of what may be don'
with even aggravated cases on man,
mere counts.
The subnorn:al shade down to ar
rested and primitive development. The,
may be called the fringe OF human go
ciety.
DO not fit into competition with others
They deviate from the normal to tn
extent CT requiring custodial care, a
long as they live. for their incomplete
ness may not be remedied. as il is con
genital
Segregation Needed.
TITS of tremendous importance tina
this group of departures from the nor
NAL should be segregated. They shoul
not be in the public schools at ell
although many of them are. They ma
be under the direction OF the publ
school management but in custodi q
ne lnl,O CLASS IS sflai
while the other two classes of unusua
children together represent certainly a
least 70 per cent of the school popula
tion.
Particular attention is called to tn
needs OF the exceptionally bright ckilc
Who Is now doomed to be brought dow
TO the mediocre level of our averaG
Class, and whose unsatisfied mentG
force, not finding legitimate outle
often leads him to be de- socialized an
70 become consequent? criminal mis-
I"ader. demaSogue or enemy TO oil
psuZed society.
We are learning that many OF th
sO-cslled naughtinesses of children ma
bc merely danger signals indicatin
disturbance somewhere. Many Of thes
RpDarent defections may be found
be due 10 imperfect hearing or vIsior
eve strain and headaches rnalnut Iii inI