Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-08-07

the chld's hand upon her throat and the child,
all eagerness, prepares to initiate her. First she
begins with the sound Of "a" and, while still
uttering 1t, gently closes her lips, but without
interrupting the sound. This action causes the
sound Of mn to follow "a" and the result is the
word ''arm." When. the little scholar is made
to understand to what the word applies ne Is
usually SO delighted that he needs no urging to
repeat it over and over until he has it just right
Sometimes the positions may be excellent, but
the sounding weak The teacher will then direct
the child to use his voice The meaning of this
direction and the way of obeying it are taught
in the very beginning of the work by holding
the chiId's hand upon the teachers throat and
chest while she makes utterance OF sound. His
hand is then applied to his own throat and chest
until he has produced similar vibrations. All
the while, OF course, he is watching his teachers
lips, and the direction is repeated until he has
learned It's meaning.
The power to distinguish differences Of vibra.
ton by touch is very important thing for It is
the childs chief guide in modifying his own
voice later-in raising 1t II 1t is too deep or
lowering 1t If 1t is too shrill Exercises bearing
upon this are conducted with musical instru.
ments such as the guitar and piano, and then
applied to the vibrations felt In the chest,
head and throat The teacher first strikes low
note and the child, watching, feels the vibration.
Then she strikes high note and calls his atten.
ton to the difference. Next she places his hand
upon her throat while she sings low and high
notes alternately, and in time he acquires the
ability to recognize the difference In tone by
touch.
The making OF aspirant sounds, recurring the
forc1ble exhalation OF breath, such as "p" is ex.
planned by using feather or lighted candle The
expulsion Of breath blows the feather away or
causes the flame Of the candle to flicker The
difference between p" and o. which have the
same visible notions but not the same sound is
Illustrated In similar manner. In the case Of
"p' we simply close the lips, compress the air
In the mouth and then allow 1t to escape in q
little voiceless puff. But with 3D." while the lips
are closed and opened in exactly the same way
the voice Is brought into use and this lessons the
force of the breath as it leaves the mouth. Gut.
tural sounds like ''k' and "g," being formed at
the back of the tongue are dificult to acquire,
but the use of the mirror is Of particular assist.
ance in teaching the child the correct positions
for the sounds of these letters
Speechreading, which is the ability to urder-
stand spoken language by watching the speech
movements on the speakers face goes side by
side with the teaching OF speech. From the first
hour the child is taught to watch his teachers
lips and to attach meaning to all their move
aments, and he learns to interpret spoken Ian
guage with his eyes the hearing child does
with his ears, without knowing the how or why
OF It.
The second question-that as to what speech
does for the deaf children when they are grown
up-is not difficult to meet. In the first place it
puts them on more equal footing with hearing
children both In their social and business life
Very few hearing people care to take the trouble
to learn the sign language or finger spelling Just
for the purpose Of conversing with one or two
persons, and system OF written communicates
Is always slow and iaborious. For this reason
the deaf child who cannot speak is always at
great disadvantage when attempting to mingle
with his more fortunate brothers. He must con-
fine his activities largely to that sphere In which
his peculiar form Of communication Is under
stood, and this sphere is exceedingly small, com
parativelY speaking. But with speech at his COM
mand he finds thousand avenues OF usefulness
and endeavor, OF which he formerly knew moth
ing. opened to him