Manual of diseases of the ear : including those of the nose and throat in relation to the ear : for the use of students and practitioners of medicine / by Thomas Barr and J. Stoddart Barr.
- Barr, Thomas, 1846-1916
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Manual of diseases of the ear : including those of the nose and throat in relation to the ear : for the use of students and practitioners of medicine / by Thomas Barr and J. Stoddart Barr. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![XXI.] seeming stupidity or inattention. When the hearing of a child attend- ing school is found to be imperfect, the parents should be informed; and he should occupy a place near to the teacher, and should otherwise receive special attention. It would be an advantage if there were institutions or schools, distinct from ordinary deaf and dumb institutions, where partially deaf children might be trained and educated, with special regard to their defects and wants. There are two systems now in use for the education of deaf-mutes: (1) The French system, by the manual alphabet and signs—Dactylology; (2) The German system, by lip-reading and articulate speech. (ib) Manual Signs and Gestures. This system, which is based upon a natural tendency, has always been practised in the institutions for the deaf and dumb, and it has been a great blessing to deaf-mutes. It is improbable that the system of lip-reading will ever entirely supersede this old method of communicating by visible signs. (c) Lip-reading and Articulate Speech. Nearly all persons, suffer- ing from dulness of hearing, instinctively and almost unconsciously read the face of the speaker. They hear with the eye, as an old authority has it, and are often astonished at their apparently greater deafness in the dark or when their eyes are shut. Children are sometimes brought, whose parents suppose them to be suffering from simple dulness of hearing with indistinctness of speech, but who, on examination by the aural specialist, are found to be almost totally deaf. Their power of lip-reading and speech, owing to a natural aptitude, has been such as to deceive the parents, who are dismayed at the serious character of the deafness of their child when tested with the eyes blindfolded. It is, however, very important to remember that the perfection of speech and lip-reading attained by this method varies very much according to the intelligence and aptitude of the child, the qualifications of the teacher, the age at which it is com- menced, the length of time during which it is carried on, and whether or not the child possesses any modicum of hearing. There is no doubt there are some deaf-mute children, who, although free from any mental defect, lack the intelligence and quickness necessary to make them proficient in lip-reading or in articulation. The qualities of the teacher have also a great influence on the results. He should be actuated by enthusiasm in his calling, and possessed of a painstaking- perseverance of no ordinary kind, besides having received a thorough training in all the details of the system. It is of importance that the child should begin early—in the seventh year, if possible—and that the teaching should extend over ten or twelve years. If the child possess a small amount of hearing, so as to distinguish words or vowels loudly spoken into the ear, the modulation and pronunciation](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24932577_0481.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
