Papers on deaf-mutism / by James Kerr Love.

  • Love, James Kerr, 1858-1942
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Papers on deaf-mutism / by James Kerr Love. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the deaf and dumb in proportion to the population as there are in the community at large, and forty-six times as many idiotic. There are, of course, many brilliant exceptions to this dark picture, but I think the facts effectually dispose of the notion that the deaf, as a body, are more gifted than people with the normal senses. I would also ask you to dismiss from your minds the idea which some persons entertain that the instructors of the deaf and dumb are a species of conjurors, who, by some magical art, engraft the tree of knowledge in the minds of these little ones. I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, that what we are able to accomplish is not achieved by any feats of legerdemain, but is simply the result of downright hard work, patience, and persevering skill, directed towards a definite object. We must know, first of all, exactly what we have got to do, and then keep pegging away till our end is achieved; and we must never know what it is to be beaten, even under the most discouraging conditions. In the short time at my disposal this evening, it will be impos- sible to enter fully into every part of the subject. I shall (1st) confine myself, therefore, to such an exposition as shall enable you to understand what is the problem with which we, as educators, are confronted; (2nd) I shall give a short historical sketch of what has been done in past times, with a review of the systems in operation at the present day, stating what, in my opinion, is the best course to pursue in a large school like the one at Langside; and (lastly) by means of an exhibition of the attainments of some of the children here present, I hope to show how far we can realise the hopes with which we set out on our task. First, then, look at the problem before us. Have you ever pictured to yourselves what it really means to be born deaf ? Have you ever seriously considered the true import of those short but terrible words, Deaf and Dumb ? I doubt not. Says a deaf- mute himself, There is nothing in the general outward appearance of deaf and dumb persons to attract the attention and pity of the bustling every-day world, busy as it is with its own afiairs, and absorbed in the contemplation of more striking things. Unlike the blind,whose sightless orbs always painfully compel attention, the deaf and dumb appear like ordinary mortals, with all the senses normal; and, having no voice to utter complaint or make known their condition, they pass on their silent way, unheeded and forgotten. The mind, destitute of the means of communication
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