What the Mother of a Deaf Child Ought to Know | Page 7

talk"), about the pussy, the dog, the bird, his foot, his toes, his arms and
hands and fingers; about his papa, brothers, sisters; about the flowers,
the grass, the trees, and a thousand other things. Say the good old
Mother Goose rhymes of "Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Man," "This
little pig went to market," etc., etc. But in all your frolics and stories
and songs, take the greatest care that he shall hear or see, or better still,
both see and hear, what you are saying. Gradually he can be taught to
understand many simple commands and questions just as hearing
babies learn them, by constant repetition at times and under
circumstances when the meaning is obvious. Such as "come," "go," "go
to papa," "come to mamma," "jump," "stop," "kiss mother," "pet
pussy," "pick up," "put down," "milk," "water," "bread" (the later in life
that he learns the meaning and taste of "candy" the better), "do you
want some bread?" "milk," "water," etc. "Bring my slippers," "bring my
shoes," "put on your hat," "take off your mittens," "wash your hands,"
etc., etc., throughout the whole day.
Very early the mother should learn to consider the direction from which
the light comes, and should be careful to take her position facing the
main source of light which should come from behind the child. The eye
can be trained from the very beginning of attention to unconsciously
supplement an imperfect ear in comprehending spoken words. It is even
possible for the eye to perform the entire task of interpreting speech,
and, if the hearing is entirely lacking, the course outlined will result in
training the brain to interpret the movements of speech as seen by the
eye, as it would have been trained by the same procedure to interpret
the sounds of speech had the organ of transmission not been injured.
But the idea must be constantly in the mind of the mother that her boy
needs to see the spoken word at the very moment _when the idea that it
represents is in his mind_, AS OFTEN as he would hear it if his

hearing were perfect.
This one suggestion, if faithfully lived up to from the age of one year to
that of two years, would be almost enough. But there are other things
that the mother can do as the mental development of the baby increases
with each month of life. She should encourage him to babble and
gurgle and murmur, as much as possible, to laugh and crow and make
all the various baby noises that will train and develop his voice.
Encourage noisy, romping, rollicking games as he gets older, that make
him shout and call, for they are the natural and best voice exercises.

IV
WHAT ABOUT THE BABY'S SPEECH?
The hearing baby babbles because he gets some pleasure from the
sounds, and also because he desires to imitate the sounds of speech he
hears around him. He has his attention called constantly to sound. The
sense of vibration is not as strong nor as instructive as that of sound,
but if the attention of the child is early called to it, a watchfulness for
vibration from within himself as well as from without, can be aroused,
and a sensitiveness developed that would not have come as early, if at
all, without special, directive effort on the part of the mother. She can
lead her little one to oo-oo, and ee-ee, and mamma, and bub-bub, etc.,
by doing these babblings herself while the baby is in her arms and his
tiny hands are wandering over her lips and face and throat. These
exercises will gradually bring a recognition on the part of the child of
the sensation of vibration that accompanies voice, and they will give
facility, coupled with the normal and natural intonations that have been
acquired when he was not conscious of any effort, that will prepare him
for a better and more fluent speech when the time comes for more exact
articulation training.
But during the first two or three years of the child's life the principal
stress should be placed upon his learning to understand what is said to
him, without bothering much about his speaking himself. In the case of

the hearing child, the understanding of language comes before he can
himself utter it. This must also be the case with the deaf child, and the
period preceding utterance must be longer, by reason of his handicap,
than in the case of a child with normal hearing.

V
DEVELOPING THE MENTAL FACULTIES
By the time he is two years old he has gained maturity and grasp
enough to play many little educational games with his mother and his
little brothers and sisters, or playmates. These games should be
calculated to