The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-11
MISS ARBAUGHS SCHOOL
 FOR THE DEAF CHILDREN
By FLORA MILNER HARRISON

Have you ever considered the process by which a deaf child learns to speak, for now many of them do acquire speech? It Is truly wonderful thing, this branch of teaching that reaches a mind that Is closed to the world of sound, upon which we depend so large ly, teaching that supplies another means to take the place of the chan mel through which such a great part of our education, pastime, business and intercourses on any theme is conducted. Through sound comes a great part of child's infantile education. He has continuous language lesson from the speech of those about him, and from this he learns to talk. He spends about two years in preparation for speech, babbling and cooing. gaining power and control of his organs of speech At the same time his ear and mind are being attuned to recognize speech From his first hours he has had inn pressions of sound; gradually he learns to recognize these sounds as words and sentences, and then to reproduce them. When he is some 9 years old, he begins
 
 command of anything approaching fluent, accurate speech. First come a few words. names of familiar objects and persons. and these are but imper- fectly spoken. By constant repetition he Is able to initiate more and more nearly the spoken words he hears; and still by imitation he increases his vo- cabulary. Thus he learns to speak
 The deaf child has none of this To him this is silent world. He cannot hear sounds, so he cannot reproduce them. He sees speech on the lips of those about him. but the movement of the lips means nothing to him. He can move his own lips. but the tongue and vocal cords must move in conjunction with the lips. and as he cannot see these nor know how to employ his own he cannot produce speech.
 He has no way to get the unconsci- ous training that comes to the child who hears. whose early speech Is the natural imitation of sounds. Natures way of learning speech Is closed to him. To approach his mind by some other avenue is then the task of the teacher of the deaf child.
 A HOME SCHOOL
 This Is the work admirably and suc- cessfully done in a private school in Macon. Ga This is Miss Laura Ar baugh's oral school for deaf children, the only school of its kind in the south.
 There one finds children who have never learned one thing through sound, who have never heard a sound The first thought Is. naturally. that they are different. set apart from other chiI- dren; but in reality there is little evil dence of this. The children talk un- derstand speech, speak in reply to speech. play, study and mingle with others, with increasing ease and nat uralness that show they are steadily overcoming the handicap that is theirs.
 It is after school hours and a lit- tie girl comes to Miss Arbaugh with roses a neighbor has given her. Of her own initiative she Is interested to distinguish between two words, Did the neighbor give her the roses through the fence or was it over the fence?" She appeals to Miss Arbaugh She describes what has transpi. ed and Miss Arbaugh tells her-from her description-thatt the neighbor gave her the roses lover" the fence and kissed her through" the fence. She runs out to explain to two other children the difference between through" and over The acquiring of a new word bit of ground gained in the matter of speaking in this world that seems oiiSAt, AS dH part or a delightful game
 Again they are in the classroom The little tots are saying little Miss Muf- fet," or Jack and Jill," things dear to the child's heart-yet never heard by these children. An older pupil Is talk ing with his teacher in a study Of American history. or on some phase of geography. Perhaps he is telling what he has learned of the occupations and characteristics of different national ities, or forms of government in differ ent countries.
 Another child may be acquiring from his teacher the story of one of the worlds great painters. while he holds in his hands a copy of one of the art ists celebrated pictures. Later he will retell the story. and will have added that much to his store of knowledge about beautiful lives and works
 The children may be at table. and q little girl who was born deaf may say in her distinct little voice. T thank