The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-08-08
G7zANzl1G III iii M5zEOSNOo

the child'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 it. gently closes her lips, but without
sound Of I'm" to follow "a and the result Is the
word arm" When the little scholar is made
to understand to what the word applies he Is
usually so delighted that he needs urging to
repeat 1t and over until he has ii just right
Sometimes the positions may be excellent, but
the sounding weak The teacher viii then direct
the child to use his voice The meaning Of this
direction and the way Of obeying IL are taught
In the very beginning Of the work by holding
the childs hand upon the teachers throat and
chest while she makes utteranee 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 its meaning.
The power to distinguish differences of vfbra-
ton by touch is a very important thing for it is
the childs chief guide in modifying his own
voice Iater-in raising it If it is too deep. or
lowering 1t IL it is too shTin Exercises bearing
upon this 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 a 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, requiring the
forcible exhalation Of breath, such as 'p" is ex-
planned by using q feather or lighted candle The
expulsion Of breath blows the feather away or
causes the fame OF the candle to flicker The
difference between 'ip" and 81, which have the
same visible motions. but not the same sound Is
Illustrated in a similar manner. In the case of
p we simply close the lips compress the air
in the mouth and then allow it to escape in q
little YOiceless pun. But with 3D." while the Inns
are closed and opened In exactly the same way
the voice is brought into and this lessons the
force Of the breath as it leaves the mouth Gut
tural sounds like TX and "g" being formed at
the back Of the tongue, are difficult to acquire
but the Of the mirror is Of particular assist
ance In teaching the child the correct positions
for the sounds OF these letters.
Speech-reading which is the ability to under
stand spoken language by watching the speech
movements 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 a meaning to ali their move
ments, and he learns to interpret spoken Ian
guage with his eyes the hearing child does
with mis- 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
UPS not difficult to meet In the first place It
puts them more equal footing with hearing
children both In their social and business life.
Very few hearing people care 70 take the trouble
to learn the sign language, or finger spelling Just
for the purpose OF conversing with one or two
persons and q system OF written communication
is always slow and laboTious- For this reason
the deaf child who cannot speak is always at a
great disadvantage when attempting TO mingle
with his 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
parativeIy speaking But with speech at his CON-
mand he finds a thousand avenues Of usefulness
and endeavor. of which he formerly knew moth
ing, opened to him