Part 7 (1/2)
If the eye be obstructed, the ear opens wide its portals, and hears your very e tones of your voice; if the ear be stopped, the quickened eye will almost read the words as they fall from your lips; and if both be close sealed up, the whole body becomes like a sensitive plant--the quickened skin perceives the very vibrations of the air, and you hts upon it, and receive answers from the sentient soul within--ANNUAL REPORT _of the Trustees of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind_, 1841
He who formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, has honored histhem with the ireat conveyances of knowledge to the huitimate object of inquiry, but one which co, and especially to every parent and teacher, Can these senses be improved by human interference? And if so, how can that improvement be best effected?
The senses are the interpreters between the material universe without and the spirit within Without the celestial machinery of sensation, hty breathed into his fories of the mind can be aroused, and the soul can be put into ical power of sensation
The possession of all the corporeal senses, and their systematic and judicious culture by all proper appliances, are necessary in order to place reat Architect as most fully and successfully to cultivate the varied capabilities of his nature, and best to subserve the purposes of his creation He who is deprived of the healthful exercise of one orthelected their proper culture, is, froree cut off froe of God as manifested in his works, and froitiht has been thrown upon this subject within a few years by the judicious labors of that class of practical educators who have devoted their lives to the amelioration of the condition of persons deprived of one or more of the senses It is difficult to conceive the real condition of the minds of persons thus situated, and especially while they reht has the s of his soul closed, and is effectually shut out froht and beauty In likeis excluded from the world of music and of speech What, then, must be the condition of persons deprived of both of these senses? How desolate and cheerless! Yet some such there are
While on a visit to the Asyluo, I man and Oliver Caswell Laura has been several years connected with the institution
LAURA BRIDGMAN, _the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl_--So reirl, so full of interest, so replete with instruction, and in every way so admirably adapted to illustrate the subject of this chapter, that I proceed to give to my readers a sketch of the ether with the results attendant upon it My information in relation to her is derived from both personal acquaintance and the reports of her case, though principally from the latter source
Laura was born in Hanover, New Hampshi+re, on the 21st of Decehtly and pretty infant
During the first years of her existence she held her life by the feeblest tenure, being subject to severe fits, which seemed to rack her frae of four years her bodily health seemed restored; but what a situation was hers! The darkness and silence of the tomb were around her Nosht her to imitate his sounds To her, brothers and sisters were but forms of matter which resisted her touch, but which hardly differed from the furniture of the house save in warmth and in the power of loco and the cat But the immortal spirit implanted within her could not die, nor could it be h most of its avenues of coan to h the others As soon as she could walk, she began to explore the room, and then the house She thus soon becaht, and heat of every article she could lay her hands upon She followed her mother, and felt of her hands and arms, as she was occupied about the house, and her disposition to i herself She even learned to sew a little and to knit
Her affections, too, began to expand, and seemed to be lavished upon the members of her family with peculiar force But the means of coo to a place only by being pushed, or to coently on the head signified approbation, on the back disapprobation She showed every disposition to learn, and e of her own She had a sign to express her idea of each ers down each side of her face to allude to the whiskers of one, twirling her hand around in i-wheel for another, and so on But, although Laura received all the aid a kind ive proof of the ie in the development of human character By the time she was seven years old the an to appear, for there was no way of controlling her will but by the absolute power of another, and at this humanity revolts
At this tiuished and successful director of the asylum, learned of her situation, and hastened to see her He found her with a well-foruine tee and beautifully shaped head, and the whole syste a plan for the education of a deaf and blind person, which the doctor had for Julia Brace at Hartford The parents readily consented to her going to the institution in Boston, where Laura was received in October, 1837, just before she had cohth year For a while she wasabout teeks, and until she became acquainted with her new locality, and soive her a knowledge of arbitrary signs, by which she could interchange thoughts with others One of two ns, on the basis of the natural language she had already commenced herself, was to be built up, or it ree in common use The former would have been easy, but very ineffectual The latter, although very difficult, if accomplished, would prove vastly superior It was therefore determined upon
The _blind_ learn to read by e of by the sense of feeling _The ends of the fingers_, resting upon the raised letters, thus constitute, in part, _the eyes of the blind_ This, although apparently difficult, becomes comparatively easy when the blind person possesses the _sense of hearing_, and is thus enabled to becoe On the contrary, the _deaf_, and consequently _due so as to use it with any degree of success In their education, hence, the _language of signs_, which can be addressed to the eye, is substituted for spoken language In co with one another, by means of the _manual alphabet_, they substitute positions of the hand, which they can both make and see, for letters and words, which they can neither pronounce nor hear
To be deprived of either sight or hearing was forarded as an almost insuperable obstacle in the way of education Persons deprived of both these senses have heretofore been considered by high legal authorities,[23] as well as by public opinion, as occupying, of necessity, a state of irresponsible and irrecoverable idiocy By the education of the re senses, however, this formidable and heretofore insuperable barrier has been overleaped, or, rather, the obstacle has been met and overcoain, in our own country The deaf and blind , and of the common branches of education, but has been enabled successfully to prosecute the study of natural philosophy, of eometry The accomplishment of all this has resulted from the successful cultivation of the sense of touch or of feeling The raised letter of the blind has been used for written language, and the er-eyes_ of the blind, has been successfully substituted for spoken language
[23] Aof reason, so that he can tell his parents, his age, or the like matters But a man who is born deaf, dumb, and blind, is looked upon by the law as in the sa supposed incapable of any understanding, as wanting all the senses which furnish the human mind with ideas--_Blackstone's Commentaries_, vol i, p 304
Laura's mind dwelt in darkness and silence In order, therefore, to coe in common use, it was necessary to co the blind and the deaf The first experi articles in common use, such as knives, forks, spoons, keys, etc, and pasting upon them labels with their names printed in _raised letters_
These she felt of very carefully, and soon, of course, distinguished that the crooked lines ~_spoon_~ differed as much from the crooked lines ~_key_~, as the spoon differed from the key in form Small detached labels, with the same words printed upon them, were then put into her hands, and she soon observed that they were similar to those pasted on the articles She showed her perception of this si the label ~_key_~ upon the key, and the label ~_spoon_~ upon the spoon When this was done she was encouraged by the natural sign of approbation--patting on the head
The same process was then repeated with all the articles which she could handle, and she very easily learned to place the proper labels upon them After a while, instead of labels, the individual letters were given to her, on detached bits of paper These were at first arranged side by side, so as to spell ~_book_~, ~_key_~, &c They were then e them herself, so as to express the words ~_book_~, ~_key_~, etc, and she did so
The process of instruction, hitherto, had been reat as that in teaching a very knowing dog a variety of tricks The poor child sat inher teacher did Presently the truth began to flash upon her; her intellect began to work; she perceived that here was a way by which she could herselfthat was in her own mind, and show it to another hted up with a hu upon a new link of union with other spirits! Dr Howe says he could almost fix upon the ht to her countenance He saw at once that nothing but patient and persevering, but judicious efforts were needed in her instruction, and that these would most assuredly be croith success
It is difficult to form a just conception of the a with her, spoken language could not be used, for she was destitute of hearing Neither are signs of any use when addressed to the eyes of the blind When, therefore, it was said that ”a sign was made,” we are to understand by it that the action was perfor of his hands, and then i the motion The next step in the process of her instruction was to procure a set of metal types, with the different letters of the alphabet cast upon their ends; also a board, in which were square holes, into which she could set the types so that the letters on the end could alone be felt above the surface Then, on any article being handed to her whose name she had learned--a pencil or a watch, for instance--she would select the coe them on her board, and read them with apparent pleasure
When she had been exercised in this way for several weeks, and until her knowledge of words had become considerably extensive, the i her how to represent the different letters by the position of her fingers, instead of the cumbrous apparatus of the board and types This she accoun to work in aid of her teacher, and her progress was rapid
Six months after Laura had left ho was full of interest Theeyes upon her unfortunate child, who, all unconscious of her presence, was playing about the roo of her hands, exa to find out if she knew her; but, not succeeding in this, she turned away as fro she felt at finding her beloved child did not know her
She then gave Laura a string of beads which she used to wear at hoave satisfactory indications that she understood they were from home The mother now tried to caress her; but Laura repelled her, preferring to be with her acquaintances
Other articles froan to look ave the doctor to understand she knew they came from Hanover; she now even endured her mother's caresses, but would leave her with indifference at the slightest signal After a while, on the ue idea seemed to flit across Laura's er; she therefore felt of her hands very eagerly, while her countenance assumed an expression of intense interest; she beca with doubt and anxiety, and never were contending ely painted upon the human face At this moment of painful uncertainty, the mother drew Laura close to her side, and kissed her fondly, when at once the truth flashed upon the child, and all distrust and anxiety disappeared fro joy, Laura nestled to the bosom of her parent, and yielded herself to her fond embraces After this the beads were all unheeded, and the playthings which were offered to her were utterly disregarded Her player, now vainly strove to pull her fro showed alike the affection, the intelligence, and the resolution of the child as well as of herfacts are drawn from the report made of her case at the end of the year 1839, after she had been a littlelearned to spell readily the naht words expressive of positive qualities, as hardness and softness This was a very difficult process