The Deaf | Page 4

with citizens in general in the state's regard.
In Part I, after we have ascertained who are meant by the "deaf," and
how many of them there are, we are to find ourselves confronted by a
question which is of the foremost concern to society; namely, whether
the deaf are to be considered a permanent part of the population, or
whether society may have means at hand to eliminate or prevent
deafness. After this, our discussion will revolve about the deaf from
different points of view, regarding them in the several aspects in which
they appear to society. We shall examine the treatment which the state

in general accords the deaf, how they are looked upon in the law, and
what changes have been brought about in its attitude towards them.
This may be said to be the view of the publicist or legalist. Next, we
shall attempt to see how far the deaf are really a class apart in the life of
the community. This will involve an examination, on the one hand, as
to whether their infirmity is a bar to their independent self-support, that
is, whether they are potentially economic factors in the world of
industry, how far their status is due to what they themselves have done,
and to what extent this result has modified the regard and treatment of
society; and, on the other, how far their want of hearing stands in the
way of their mingling in the social life of the community in which they
live, whether the effect of this will tend to force the deaf to associate
more with themselves than with the rest of the people, and what forms
their associations take. These will be the views respectively of the
economist and the sociologist. Then we shall consider the regard in
which the deaf are popularly held, the view of "the man in the street,"
and whether this regard is the proper and just one. Lastly, we shall note
what movements have been undertaken in the interests of the deaf by
private organizations, and to what extent these have been carried.
In Part II we shall consider the provision that has been made for the
instruction of deaf children. First we shall review the attempts at
instruction in the Old World, and then carefully follow the
development of instruction in America, considering the early efforts in
this direction, the founding of the first schools, and the spread of the
work over the land; and noting how it was first taken up by private
initiative, in time to be seconded or taken over by the state, and how far
the state has seen and performed its duty in this respect. Public
institutions have been created in nearly all the states, and we shall
examine the organizations of these institutions and the general
arrangements in the different states. The development of the work also
includes a system of day schools, a certain number of private schools
and a national college, all of which we shall consider, devoting especial
attention to the day schools and their significance. Following this, we
shall consider how each state individually has been found to provide
for the instruction of the deaf, observing also the extent to which the
states have made provision in their constitutions, and the extent to

which the schools are regarded as purely educational. Next, we shall
proceed to inquire into the terms of admission of pupils into the schools;
and we shall particularly concern ourselves with the investigation of the
question of how far the means provided for education by the state are
actually availed of by the deaf. The great technical problems involved
in the education of the deaf will be outside the province of this work,
but we shall indicate, so far as public action may be concerned, the
present methods of instruction. This done, we shall mark what is the
cost to the state of all this activity for the education of its deaf children,
noting also how far the state has been assisted in the work by private
benevolence. In the final chapter of our study we shall set down the
conclusions which we have found in respect to the work for the deaf on
the whole in the United States.

PART I
POSITION OF THE DEAF IN SOCIETY
CHAPTER I
THE DEAF IN THE UNITED STATES
MEANING OF TERM "DEAF" IN THE PRESENT STUDY
By the "deaf" in the present study is meant that element of the
population in which the sense of hearing is either wholly absent or is so
slight as to be of no practical value; or in which there is inability to
hear and understand spoken language; or in which there exists no real
sound perception. In other words, those persons are meant who may