Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-02
deaf HAND|CAPS
. STUDIED IN FARLEY
Teachers and Scientists Con-
fer Here on Means of
Overcoming Defects.

Methods of overcoming the handicap
of deafness through education were dis
cussed this morning by the National
Conference On the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing called by the National Re-
search Council.
The conference, composed of psy-
biologists, physicians, educators and
physicists, Is meeting at the National
Academy of Science Building.
Substitution Of touch for sound in
communicating with the deaf, which
has been the subject of intensive ex-
periments by DR.. Robert H. Gault of
Northwestern University at Gallaudet
College here and elsewhere, is a very
remotes possibility, DR.. Gault told the
conference yesterday. DR.. Gault's
tons against the palms Of the deaf
students with modified telephone
device.
Adjunct to Lip Reading.
He insisted, however, that this method
promises to prove valuable adjunct
to lip reading, the subject both seeing
and feeling the speech which he cannot
hear. Part of the advantage, he said,
probably lies in the ability to detect
accents of words better by feeling than
sight. Some blind and deaf persons, he
said. are able to understand speech by
putting their hands on the head Of the
speaker. II the application of sound
vibrations could be made directly
against the ear, he said, the results
might be much better, but he has
never been able to do this without
causing pain.
DR.. Harvey Fletcher of the Bell Tele-
phone laboratories said that expert
ments have shown the thresholds of
hearing and pain due to vibrations
against the meatus of the ear are very
close together, whereas the threSolds
of touch and pain on the fingers are
very far apart.
Dr. Max Goldstein, president of the
American biological Association, said
that 20 per cent of deaf children have
some slight hearing and urged that
natural voice rather than use inStru-
gether. {.
May Prove Asset.
DR.. Gordon Berry of Worcester, Mass,
said that for some jobs deafness actually
proves an asset, because the deaf per-
son has trained his powers of observa-
ton far more than the normal indi-
vidual
The deaf get along better than those
who hear when their status Is consid-
cred in proportion to the rest Of the
population. said DR.. e. A. Gruver. di-
rector of the Pennsylvania Institute for
the Deaf. 1--WE have been surprised
again and again." he said, Eat children
who go out from school apparently
feeble-minded who come back In their
own automobiles They take better care
of their children and their families"
Prof Donald Patterson Of the Univer-
sity Of Minnesota urged that a special
study be made of colony of 500 deaf
persons employed by a tire company in
Akron, Ohio. These have become very
prosperous Al study of the way they
have adjusted themselves to their jobs,
he said, should yield. information which
could be applied elsewhere. 81
Properly trained deaf children, DR..
Goldstein said, are able to hold their
own in colleges without any special con-
siderations. One totally deaf boy, he
said, now Is a senior at Harvard with
high scolastic standing, and a girl In
similar predicament was able to major
in a foreign language in another col
lege.
The problem of dealing with the child
who is slightly hard of hearing is even
more difficult than that of training the
totally deaf child, the conference was
told. The public schools make little
provision for these children, who natur-
ally are at great disadvantage COM
pared with their classmates.
Program Decided On.
Iac;Ial av.F ~
involving the general establishment OF
classes in lip reading for the more
seriously affected children, special class
es for the hard-of- hearing children, de-
termination of the type of teachers
needed for such children use of. me-
chanical aids in instruction, and the
treatment of slightly deaf children who
remain in the regular classes. The
committee will stress to teachers the
importance of watching the emotional
and social adjustment OF such children.
knowledge of lip reading, 1t was pointed
out, may keep the slightly deaf child
psychologically normal where otherwise
it would degenerate.
It is also proposed to devise a set
Of intelligence and achievement tests
particularly for deaf children for whom
the standard tests are not suitable.
Several tests for the deaf already have
been devised, but their use and inter-
probation has not been standardized.
Is is proposed to work out specially
scaled tests for reading. arithmetic.
spelling. English. history, geography,
handwriting. health knowledge and in
dustrial arts, which will range from
the primary through the high school
grades.
It Is also proposed to work out
test for finger spelling, for proficiency
In lip reading, and a method OF meas
uring the tntelligibility of the speech
of a deaf child in conversation with
persons who are not familiar with