The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1914-06-02
WONDERFUL EDUCATION or
LITTLE OEAF-HliM0 GIRL


DanyIilc, which shows that the worl
done to take the light of intelligence Il
her little mind, immufcd in silence an,
darkness was as wonderful as was tn
education oi Helen Keller. The stor!
OF this little girl Is oi unusual intcres
but especially SO here, for the teacher
VINO, with wonderful patience anC
Judgment was able to do so much FOL
the afflicted Rirl, - Stanford youns
lady, Miss Sophia Aloorn, youngest
daughter OF Judge and Mrs. j. ". Al.
corn. The Leaders article was as fol
lows.
Several days ago two Of the teach
crs at the kentucky School tor Deaf
at Dsnyille ON entering one OF the
rooms OF the institution were struck
BY picture made by a child, one OF
the pupils OF the school
THIS child. a little girl of eleven
was hali-lying. hall sitting among the
pillows Of a couch. holding a book as
u she were reading Il. She kept the
graceful unconscious pose without
the turning of leaf without the
flicker of AN eyelash. Tor five or ten
minutes.
One fact gave poignancy and picty
TO this little picture and made II re-
markable. the child reading" the book
WAS both deaf and blind. aud yet in
the prison OF darkness aud silence IN
which she lives, she had felt the lure
OF the printed page
Everybody knows OF Helen Keller.
the deai-bllnd young woman who has
become one of the foremost thinkers
and writers OF the day. All have read
with pity and admiration the story
oi her battles IN the intellectual lite
and have maryeled at her conquests.
Very few know that in the Kentucky
School Tor the Deaf aud Dumb at Dan
vile. Nv. little giri. handicapped
Just as Helen Keller. and who Is max
ing the struggle for education and for
lie itself that Miss Keller at length
Won. Her name Is Oma Simpson and
she comes from the little town oi Hin
side. IN Muhlenburg county.
Three and a hall years ago when
Onia first came To school she knew
absolutely nothing. not even her own
name. She didn't even know that she
had name or that other people and
that things have names. \ few rude
gestures with which she could ask
Tor food or water formed her only
means OF communication. Her own
world must have been more void than
even the most imaginative can con
ceiye. Ii is not known positively that
she was born deaf At eighteen
months. through an attack of spinal
meningitis, II Is supposed she lost
her hearing and IN few more
months. lost all memory at the lew
words her baby mind had possibly
graspcd. From two until five years
Of age she was IN bed. very Ill. all
the tim,
lust when she began 10 lose her
sight. II is impossible To say, but at
1--WE. she recovered from the long i'll
ness and then II was known that she
had become totally blind. The only
object which could have become
familiar Ia her weak eyes during her
sickness we're the walls of one dark
ened room. her mothers face. and
perhaps few simple toys. In few
months time all memory OF the things
she had seen must have been lost in
the darkness which folded her about
Just as the baby -babbllng was swal-
lowed up by the blank stiffness
Fortunately before Oma came 10
scnool. her mother kept alive the
mind germ by teaching her 10 do sim
pie every day tasks, to dress herself
tn Use broom, To wipe the dishes. &c
put away her playthings. So IL was
that when she was sent TO school she
was extremely neat and independent
IN her personal habits. Except for
these two marked traits. neatncss and
IN the beginning there
seemed to be nothing remarkable
about her. She was passive. willing
4" sit still Just where she was left, |
inert. uninterested in everything |
about her. Her teacher says that the |
first time she was led into her room,
she moved about until she found a !
Bible lying ON table. then she at
once opened II and knelt down by a |
chair. That she could not know what |
the book was or what kneeling meant |
and that she has never done such I |
thing since gave To the incident the |
import OF an omen. Al any rate in /
oma's case II seems much more rea-
sonable TO attribute 10 her uncon-
seious act religious significance |
than To explain it as a coincidence.
Her first day in school was Novem-
Der y, 1910 Several TOYS were put
into her hands but the only one which |
seemed to interest her was doll.
Her teacher at once spelled "doll' into
her hand. Ii was not until eight DAYS
later that she was able To pick cut the |
doll from several other objects when
lie word was spelled against her
hand, and give IL Ia her teacher. thus
proving that she knew the four letters
dol u stood for the object that inter
rsted her. Two DAYS later she could
flaa Al.
lers OF the manual alphabet very slow
y with her own right hand. A dolls
bed next appealed To her and in four
n,ore days she had learned that word.
In one months time she knew about
our words, doll bed. ball. COW In
eaching the word COW. she was al
Owed to feel toy cow then real
,ow and her Weakening mind at once
seemed 10 establish the connection be-
ween the two.
weary Of the learning that was being
hrust upon her She decided that sh
preferred to play with her doll and
he spent nearly the entire five hours
4 her school day ON the 9Th Of that
December spelling the word doll beg
,ing for the toy which a merciless
oe In the person OF wise teacher
Sas Withholding from her. The next
lay she apparently made up her little
mind to accept other things than dolls
n this strange scheme of existence
which was unfolding itself to her and
earned the new word hat. BY the LIST
II January. she knew sixteen words.
Her teacher. Miss Sophia Alcorn, of
Ky, who has taught her
rom the time she entered school
lntil the present time. determined
o give her pupil the unspeak.
bile gift of speech and lip-reading f,
Early in December she began to LEI