Facts and opinions relating to the deaf from America.

Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Facts and opinions relating to the deaf from America. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    50/212 (page 38)
    required sounds. If, however, this watching proves insufficient, his attention should be directed to the proper placing of the vocal organs for the production of such sounds. Do not expect or demand perfection; approximation should be regarded as progress at the first. You will discourage if you criticise too closely. ' Bear in mind that the child possessing normal hearing requires years of practice, and under the most favourable cir- cumstances, before he can secure correctness of enunciation. Eecall the recitations of ' Mother Goose' and kindred rhymes by your own little friends, in which scarcely a word would be spoken with correctness. Should we demand more from our pupils ? ' Take up, seriatim, the sounds composing the words in the sentence : th-a-t—that, c-a-t—cat, h-a-s—has, a—a, r-a-t—rat, combining both eye and ear in assisting the pupil to reproduce the sounds uttered, thus securing lip-reading, hearing, and articulation. ' As soon as short a is mastered, take short e, as in pen ; short i, as in pin; short o, as in not; short u, as in but; and develop them in the same way. ' In like manner take up the long vowels, and when you have completed them you will not only have laid a good founda- tion, but you will also have stimulated the acuity and increased the ability to perceive and comprehend sound. ' I am certain that in time to come, as men become broader in sentiment and feeling, we shall find a better classification of the deaf, so that each class will have the instruction best adapted to its peculiar needs, regardless of sign, oral, or aural methods, and that in the same institution and under the same direction each of these systems will be honestly and faithfully carried out, to the end that each deaf person shall be so taught as shall best enable him to overcome his defectiveness and enjoy the society of the world about him. ' In the hope that your efforts to enlighten the members of the lloyal Commission will be rewarded by an increased