Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, November 12, 1911, EDITORIAL, Image 14
Omaha Bee PART TWO EDITORIAL PAGES ONE TO TWELVE UN DAY PART TWO SOCIETY PAGES ONE TO TWELVE VOL. XLI. NO. 21. OMAHA, SUNDAY MOUNINO, NOVEMBER 12, 1JU1. N1XULE COPY FIVE CENTS. ow a Deaf Child is Taught to Talk Like Other HE H Folks ' OTTX . : ZZ . r v f . --,. V, -f ! 7Tl I x -n. TnzammniGDjL la Sli vT" --L . eKtpnwa!aa rl'.kF VmS' -Mmsm: soots M7srAfF (TSjf p . ' ' 1 ir . itfJ ?'! ;' : t 1 u j - , J k v -- i WjpvAm czass m d , f' . CaX IjnM J -i"?;.) . i - ;; , ; , 7 c . bu-M f. ' . v 4 - 1 ' . - 1 ,'1:'" V: I t I fl U A-s P ..Jll till I -.lL t..Ji . Vp 1i P V v - j ' . A , ','. f - ' ,M . 'r" yr!iO!l ' 1 i,. , ,-"'.r ' ': j 1 8 ,5' "Z H s ; W- -"--U,. V j OKm??'- rrtiivrtnviiimwtriernimifinfi 1 1 iKARlXG with the cyeu is a rather new art, but It Is being taught with more or less sueceB8 ia the schools for the deaf of the United States, and the Nebraska school, located in Omaha, is not behind in this work. , As long ago as 1894 Prof. J. A. Gillespie, then in charge Of this school, had begun instruction on oral lines. In an interview with Alexander Graham Bell, printed in The Bee during a vis-it he made to the Omaha school in that year, Mr. Bell said: "The Nebraska institution is celebrated the world over for its progress in teaching the deaf to hear. The method in use here was originated by Trof. J. A. Gillespie and is Vevolutionirlng the man ner of instructing these unfortunates. For a number of years teachers in the institution have been accustomed to ring a dinner bell to summon their pupils, but it never seemed to occur to any one that a child that could hear a dinner bell might be taught to hear speech. It remained for Prof. Gillespie to attempt this, and he has -demonstrated that 16 per cent of our deaf mutes could be taught to hear and speak; and when you consider that the census of 1SS0 reports about 3 4,000 deaf mutes in this country, jou see bow important this matter is. "The method pursued by this school is to form those pupils who can hear any loud noise, such as a dinner bell, into classes, and teach them to, articulate, thus transforming them from deaf mutes into ordinary deaf people. While J was in Kuiope I was questioned very closely about thi3 Nebraska institution and the work it is doing, but was unable to give a very extended idea of the matter, as I had never visited it; so I resolved to avail myself of the first opportunity and investigate the matter fully. The institution ha gained a reputation in hla thing which is world wide and has done more to change the general idea regarding this subject than anyone every dreamed of." Vlnce Mr. Bell gave that interview to The Bee .after visiting the Nebraska school, the Insti tution has l;ept in the front rank among schools for the education of the deaf. To convey an under standing of the new and beKer method as it bus been developed Bt the present time, it will bo per tinent to quot Mrs. Arllne B. N. Mots of St. Louis, a noted and successful teacher. "Wo beglu at the beginning:," says Mrs. Moss. "When u deaf person wishe3 ,lo ruaiter lip reading be tiiust lcp.ru perfectly jut' what staves the Hps take in making all the souals. The vowels are !;!i;t?n one by one and the pui-11 i drilled in these tounds over and over for bouts ut u time. Then t'..e consonants a:e taken. , It stems almost houe !ckr to thoui ct f rr-it, but in time they begin to (II s tii s u I -- I, thcni Ae eoob 6s the vowel and cou--! i : m'iikIj r.ra mabtcre t then we begin to iuu v.oi'i. Ii' is like learning to reJ uad to my i tmmrmmrarL'im,iiiiK Mist"? o r speak all over again. It is practice that doeB it. I talk some days till I am almost hoarse in an effort to let the pupil see juat how the letters should be formed. "Then I sometimes have him practice before a mirror. In that way ho can watch his own lips move as he pronounces certain letters or combina tions of letters." The method here described is practiced at the Nebraska school with encouraging success. While it is bard, at first, for the little ones to comprehend such a thing as sound, they aro eager to learn and soon begin to imitate the Hp movements of the teacher, who must have illimitable patience. Re ward comes in seeing the gleam of gratification that comes to their faces when the realization dawns that they are being asked to make sounds, and that this is possible. Experienced teachers bear testimony that, once Interested, the deaf chil dren develop a wonderfully keen insight. Their sense of touch is also very acute, and some of them can detect vibrations of the vocal chords in a surprising way. The present number of pupils in the Nebraska school is ICo, distributed among fifteen classes, giving an average of eleven pupils to each teacher. "It will be understood," says Superintendent Booth, "that instruction is largely individual; therefore the number of pupils under one teacher must bo smaller than in the case of hearing children. Es pecially is this tfiio with oral elr.sses where speech is taught and lip reading Is the medium of instruc tion. The best authorities agree that vnl classes, for best results, should not contain more than from six to e!ilit children." The pupils lange in ago from ti to 21, and tba classes in their work cover ten grades, carrying them through arithmetic, algebra, Kiigllsh gram mar, American and l-Jnglisli hiElory, nnd giving a year of Latin, preparing them for Gallaudet College for the Deaf, an institution r.iainlr.lned at Wash ington by the I'nited States j:ovtrni:ieut, und which deaf students from all the H.aica attend loi a juU college course free of expense for tuition or board. The graduating class last year coutuined seven students, two of whom are now at Galinudet col lege. Nebraska's pi'tseut representation at Gal laudet Includes seven students in ihe various col lege classes. The present high class of the school contains twelve pupils, all of who will, It Is though;, graduate in June. The total nur.ibtr of pupils that have been enrolled i:i the school since Its fo;ii:diii3 lu 1SG9 I.i 8HD, (ortiif? iroiu seventy-nine ccunt!- of the state. At this time :-fiy-thre3 coi;:;'! ;3 hjve reire ler.taMvcs In the school, lioutiaa county has forty one, 'Llmoln fourlte:?, .Kcai :i y, Knox and Dodgu rath seven, Dixon six. Hall end Cus'cr each llw, Pierce, Saline end O'oe c:i Ii f",u The state of V'jxm'ns ii'aiit;:t!'s thiec pu,i!a la ihe school at uu annual tost of 4,.r tut.U. Omitting cost of buildings nAd the Interest on the money invested, the cost per-pupil to the stata for maintenance and instruction approximates f'JGO per annum. The number of pupils who have completed the prescribed course and received a diploma of grad uation la ninety-live. A far larger number, having completed a partial course, have received certifi cates o? honorable dismissal. The schcol maintains an industrial training school, and teaches carpentry, printing, painting, shoemaking and farming to the boys, and dress making and laundry work to the girls. The former pupils of the school are generally following the occupations thus taught at school and as a rule successfully. The Inst Nebraska legislature, responding to a request of parents desiring it, passed a law making the employment of the oral method com pulsory In the future work of the school. The oral method alms to give speech and Hp reading to deaf children, and where skillfully applied under favorable conditions the method in other states lias proven n success. At present all new pupils, or those catering schools tills fall, ore being taught orally. These constltuto two classes. In addition to these, six classes formerly taught orally are con tinued under the oral method. The seven remain ing dosses, mude up principally of the older pupils, heretofore taught manually, aro continued, and will bo continued, under the manual method until their graduation. It will take tlmo, probably several years, ac cording to Prof. Booth, for for the oral method to entirely replace the manual method, by graduating the tranuully taught and by training the new pupils ua they enter txclunlvely by speech. The process is thus an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary crie, u proc ss of natural growth rather than ti' rifi.truf tlon and attempted roccnsli uetlon. Hluce 175i, when the Abbo d l'Kpee estab lished t. little school In Paris for the systematic education of the deif, supported by 1:1s own small iucon.L-, 4,rat . bti'idcs have been made by thosvi u,. v vv " "" r i ' i A tul Jl :.-v if. Kil t r-1T.mrtmrll,l... " I. Ill llll C3 WWW HI 11)11 II MBIIHiyj, " -. interested in the work. Before the good abbo began , his work only occasioual cases had boeu known In which nobles or meu of groat wealth had succeeded in finding peculiarly equipped and devoted men to teach their dtaf children. At the same tlmo that l'Epee took up this woik others in England, Scot land and Germany were teaching by the oral method, but were catering only to tho rich and keeping their methods secret. The French priest opened his doors to all. Thomas II. Gallaudet, sent to Europe for training In 1816, found no welcome where the methods were so closely guarded, but at tho l'Epee school he was warmly welcomed and was taught what Abbe Slcard, then in charge, knew. So it was when Gallaudet opened the first school in the United States, at Hartford, Conn., in 1817, hu could give instruction only in the sign language and by the manual method. This plan wa continued for half a century. In the oral method all manual forms of com munication, either gestural signs or finger alphabet, are abolished. All Instruction or communication is spoken, except that writing Is taught as in any ordinary school to hearing pupils. A little book. "Syllubiis on the Education of the Deaf," pub lished by the otological section of the American Medical association, asserts that in Europe at pres ent tho oral method is almost universal, "while the United States Is the stronghold of manuallsm." It also gives figures showing that in 1001 Europe had 3S0 schools out of 423 teaching the oral sys tem, while the United States In 1910 had eighty two and Canada two oral schools out of a total of 1G2. Pupils taught In purely oral schools In the United tSates In 1910 numbt-red only 2.S09 out of a total enrollment, of U',332. This Indicated an average of but 22 per cent orally taught In this country, egalnst an average of 80 per cent In Europe. Germany, Norway, Holland and Switzer land teach the deaf by the oral method cx'iu livcly. In addition to the 2,809 pupils mentioned as receiving oral instruction In the United States. 4,753 others are put down as being "taught wholly or chiefly by tho oral method." This woulj bring the percentage of the United States up to about 60, or only twenty points behlndv'EurQ0as" whole. Tho grounds of the Nebraska School for tha Deaf comprise twenty-three acres, teu of which were given to the stato by James Bonner. Th first building erected was tho present north wing. In 1871. At present the plans counts seven larg buildings, one being a handsome new auditorium, and four smull frame buildings. There is a staff of thirty-odd teachers, and Superintendent Booth, considers the Nebraska institution as one of tha best In tho laud. He is not alone in that opinion, and lu addition it can be said that the location and surroundings aro almost ideal. Majestic maplea and widcsprcadlng cottonwoods surround the build i'ngs, nnd orchard, vineyard and garden are care fully cultivated and supply the inmates with a wholesome variety of food for the tables. An association of parents and guardians of fleaf, or t'srMpilv cVef. children of Nebraska has been formed, to be known as tho Nebraska Parents' As to.. u. .hi -o Punuoie tl.e Orul Education of the Deaf. The officers arc: E. J. Babcock, president. North Loup; Major C. F. Scharmann, vice presi dent, Omaha; Mrs. A. N. Dafoo, secretary, Tecum seh; J. V. McLane, treasurer, superintendent Bchools Florence; executive committee, Major C. F. Schar mann, Superintendent J. F. McLane, John S. Reed, Lincoln; AI N. Dafoe, Tccumseh. The organizers feel that the parents of deaf children are the ones most vitally interested in their education. They wish to have them become as nearly as possible like hearing children, taught and trained to talk with their families and friends, und understand or dinary conversation by reading their Hps. The law passed by the last legislature for oral inSi'ructlou provides that speech shall be used dur ing the entire school life of all children hereai'ter outerel Id the Nebraska Schfiol for (he Deaf who ere capable cf reeelvlnjj oral Instruction, and it has betn dosntT.stra'ed that thsro are but few that are not ni ahlo of . beini; taught orally. In case any are fouu who ce Ines'publs of r?-elv:ng oral in struction they will be taught by audi other method Coutlaued on Pago Five.)