Five Lectures on Blindness | Page 9

years, who had never done anything for herself, and whose
parents refused to send her to school. It took me some time to win the
child's confidence, but when I did, I had no trouble to correct many of
her habits, and I soon taught her to dress herself and learn to read.

When I asked her what she did all day before I brought her the beads
and the little scissors, and she answered, "Oh, I just sat in my rocker,
and rocked back and forth, shaking my hands." And when I asked why
she did not play and act like other children, she began to cry, and said,
"Nobody never told me nothin' else to do till you came."
When six years old, a blind child should be sent to the nearest state
school for the blind, or to a special class, if there is such a department
in the public schools of the city in which it lives. The necessity of
sending the child to school thus early can not be too strongly
emphasized, and education of blind children should be made
compulsory, just as in the case of ordinary children. This is a measure
which should be considered by all those interested in child welfare. The
unwillingness of parents to send their children away to boarding school
at so early an age is one of the strongest arguments in favor of the
special classes in public schools. But it is not possible to have such
classes in the small cities and towns, and very often the home
conditions are often unsuitable for the proper development of a blind
child, and so, in every state, a residential school is an absolute
necessity.
Such a school should consist of a kindergarten, primary, intermediate
and high school department, and the life of the children should conform
as closely as possible to that of a large family in a well-ordered home.
Those in charge of the children should be impressed with the
responsibility of the task they have undertaken and should do their
utmost to assist in the work of fitting the little ones for the preliminary
skirmish in the battle of life. All children should have constant
supervision during the formative period, but more especially does the
blind child need watchful guidance in his work and at his play. Little
habits must be broken, awkward movements discouraged, self
confidence fostered, and every effort made to develop the child along
sane and normal lines, so that, in later life, he may have the poise and
bearing so often lacking in those who are blind from early childhood.
It is sometimes claimed that it is not essential that a teacher of the blind
be possessed of more than an ordinary education, and this is why so

many schools for the blind fail to turn out capable, cultured, self-reliant
boys and girls. Dr. Illingworth, the noted English educator, gives the
following qualifications for a teacher of the blind: "a sound education,
self-control in a high degree, a boundless enthusiasm, a determination
to succeed, should be kind and sympathetic, and at the same time firm,
and should be true to his word." These are qualifications which should
be possessed alike by the blind teacher and sighted teacher, and only
teachers so qualified should be entrusted with the divine privilege of
bringing light to the minds of these helpless little ones. I wish to add a
few more qualifications to Dr. Illingworth's list, and they are these: a
broad, comprehending sympathy, a sense of humor, and a heart
brimming with love for all children--a heart capable of sharing the joy
and grief of every child heart. And I wish to emphasize, in a special
manner, one of the doctor's qualifications--namely, "a boundless
enthusiasm," and to add yet another, a living, breathing faith that
teaching is a divine calling, and that the opportunities for good or ill are
limitless. To be successful, a teacher should be able to bring himself to
the level of his pupil. I once heard a man say of a great teacher, "he had
the heart of a boy, and understood our every thought and feeling."
In many schools for the blind the inspirational value of a blind teacher
is overlooked or ignored. In this connection Dr. Illingworth says: "it is
almost as impossible for a seeing teacher to realize what it is to be blind,
and know all the difficulties of his blind pupil, as for a congenitally
blind person to enter into and share with one who can see, the beauty of
a glorious picture or landscape." Dr. Illingworth continues, "it takes a
seeing teacher to become what might be called a naturalized blind
person, that is, one able to see things from the blind point of view;
though he is