THAT THE DEAF MAY SPEAK

foreign it isn't the fact that she's very attractive which of course she is so attractive in fact that she makes a very good living as a professional model and you've probably met her in some of our very best magazines nor is it that she has such an evident zest for life though she has as you can see from her shining eyes that mirror the clear spring sky nor even that she so thoroughly likes people although she does as you can tell from her quick response to their pleasures and to their Tales of Woe it's none of these that sets Marsha so apart from her Talent it's simply that Martian what's the matter with you the address yes I am thank you foreign it is a facility we humans have to build a world to meet our needs Mark that idea well it is the text of our story I do not have to tell you that these are healthy happy children that there is gaiety and color and Beauty in their lives that there is companionship a spirit of playing and getting along together nor do I have to tell you that there is a love of children in this room you can see all that and the smiling faces and the sparkling eyes but I do have to tell you that these children are deaf otherwise you might not know it so that for them learning to live with their deafness is not their major problem we are you and I and the world we have built around us a world in which sound plays so dominant apart [Music] days are a tapestry of sound signal sounds and warning sounds that Propel us from hour to hour from activity to activity [Music] our cultures and Recreations are buttressed by sound and a dozen fears in a score of different ways [Music] yeah but above and beyond all else sound is the substance of our communication we have built almost the whole structure of our society upon the phenomenon of audible speech [Music] they're going to play baseball can I go with them all right you're right out guys okay there's a new kid maybe he'll play we could use some more fellas Hey kid hey you hey Hey Joe I'm talking to do you want to play some baseball what's the matter what are you blubbering about we just want you to play some ball with us you can play can't ya oh nuts of course Tommy can play baseball but he doesn't know it nobody ever took the trouble to tell him it's trouble to tell Tommy anything because he's deaf he knows only what he sees and unless someone takes the trouble to change it for him he sees a hostile World an impatient world all too often and in different [Music] the problems of the deaf in the hearing world are many and difficult but they are not unsurmountable far too often however they are magnified by the suddenness with which the first confirmations of deafness May Come um foreign [Music] and finally they do know their child is dead and to them it is a pronouncement of Doom why did this terrible thing have to happen to us if it's terrible it will be you that make it so not this child there's no reason at all why you can't have a fool but happy and destructive life there are many agencies that can help you in a sense these are among the more fortunate parents for they have early come upon information that may well change the course of this child's life [Music] they will learn that there are National agencies and many local bureaus that can provide the information and consoles they will need for training and handling their child they will learn that they are far from alone in their problem that in their own communities or close by there are generally groups of parents of deaf children where each parent can draw knowledge and comfort from the experiences of the others [Music] they learn also that there are schools devoted exclusively to the training of deaf children from Nursery age on [Music] and that for the time being they must follow simple teaching and training techniques at home to assure a happy well-adjusted child to make him secure in the family group comfortable in the neighborhood when the child reaches the nursery school age of two and a half to three years old they may apply for his enrollment in one of many schools for there are three to four hundred schools throughout the country where a deaf child may go for training and education most of them under State supervision many supported in whole or in part by state funds the children whose training years we're about to watch are pupils of the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York City and we're present on a big day in the life of three-year-old Carol for this day she enters a new world and the dawning of a new life [Music] she has been to the school before of course there was the day of her first visit with the simple preliminary testing that indicated her need to be here [Music] there was the interview with the staff psychologist to learn from the parents the wounds that this child may have suffered in the hearing world and to devise the means of their healing [Music] and just the day before every factor of Carol's Health was checked because every aspect of her physical well-being has a bearing upon the course and content of her future training and today she crosses the threshold outside this door this child is a deaf child once inside this child is a child [Music] thank you to be given unto the care of those who understand her problems and are aware of her every need [Music] this is to be your world Carol at least it is to be the very biggest part of the world you will know during the months to come frightens you now and confuses you for it is strange and Fate has not made strangeness an easy thing for you to come upon but there are understanding people here who will guide you along the paths that are strange you will find that it will be no hard task for you to live in this world for it is designed for those who do not hear Carol will find that there is more than teachers help here there is love and endless patience [Music] to find here to Tender Hearts of other Carol's other tarmics other marshes and problems and common understanding [Music] thank you in days to come a new fabric of life will begin to weave for Carol strands of pleasant activity secure environment grows stronger memories of strangeness begin to fade away [Music] foreign but from the moment of her entrance here this will be a world of speech words always words flood every action every activity words that will become not sound but of lips words that Carol will see not here [Music] drink your milk Carol go wash your hands hang up your clothes so Begins the long slow process the accumulation of vocabulary even before Carol is aware that there are such things as words but much more quickly Carol you will learn that there are things you must and can do for yourself and you will gain the inner strength and learn the satisfaction that comes with [Music] comes with one day maybe in about a month when the strangeness has left your eyes and a sense of belonging has entered your heart you will start the long road of communication with the hearing learning to speak learning to read the lips the process of learning starts with identification so first we must learn to see the things we look at a car is always a car a ball is always a ball [Music] these are the objects in the world around us and an object may be pictured so we learn to match object with picture [Music] together then picture with picture for a major learning experiences deal with the representations of things not the things themselves and always rewards for achievement flower and animal a star which will it be Karen to make trying fun and to add another small experience to your world thank you all tutoring at the school is individual as is all progress Mike has been here a few months now and has made some progress on the road that Carol is just starting [Music] match object with object that's a breeze for Mike match object with picture good boy training the eyes to see refining perception steadying concentration day after day and always the essential probing into the wide Gulf between total deafness and normal hearing for deafness is seldom complete usually there is some degree of hearing even though it may be very slight can you find the airplane where's the car okay good boy Mike in these earliest years the use of color provides an added device to begin the teaching of audible speech Mike will learn as it is done day after day to associate breath sounds with the color blue all right try this one audible sounds are associated with the color red and Mike will learn to mimic The Sounds by feeling in his own throat the vibration he feels in his teacher's throat [Music] Gaga Gigi and so the world of the death reaches out toward the world of the hearing slow faltering steps at first but nothing is hurry and patience is seemingly inexhaustible each success is bought at the price of a dozen failures each Advance a Priceless victory Mike has also been fitted with a personal hearing aid which he wears at all times not because it necessarily gives him usable hearing but because he is aware of sound the aid serves to focus his attention just how much it will help him there's still no knowing but always the rule is use every Aid every device every shred of value [Music] another Aid in these early years is the child's personal picture book this book is in a sense a reflection of the child in this first year it is merely a collection of paste up papers with pictures of those objects which be can lip read plus a few more not too many which she is learning hey can you find the picture of mother and mother you say mother [Music] um his mother home how about the picture of daddy here is the beginning of vocabulary the links in all chains of communication the building blocks in our structure of knowledge first objects then simple ideas connected with those objects how about the picture of daddy there he is where is Daddy and daddy's home you found a picture of a baby are you a baby are you a baby you're not a baby no [Music] that's right you're a big girl he's a big girl and our big girl will play at learning and learn while playing the beginnings of things she must know to live in the big outside world as well unpacked suitcase put it all back in Pretend We're Going Home all right well look let's put the shoes in first let's put the shoes in that's right good girl put one over here and one over here now let's put the beautiful dress in right how about that beautiful dress B Let's Fold It Up should we Fold It Up Let's Fold up the dress put it in okay how about the overalls look at the overalls there is no time scheduled to this kind of learning it is a never-ending Road and the pace of travel varies with each child and within each child is affected by a score of factors known and unknown and among those factors these residual hearing may play an important part Emma [Music] that's right it was the horn all right now turn around whatever sounds B can learn and interpret in the world about Earth will ease the road that she will travel foreign the training of the deaf is largely a matter of Stepping Stones rather than milestones and the children in a nursery class too have made important progress along the road in this period as a rule they learn at a faster Pace than hearing children abstractions are fewer concentrative ability has been more highly developed yet in those very distractions hearing children build their reservoir of potential knowledge which these children do not have and for which later as you will see they must pay a price now they move along hearteningly happily in dozens of small ways the child begins to feel part of a group stimulated by other children one of those ways is here in the tutoring room where at this stage two children are frequently brought in at the same time asleep and that's all no more Pat will you get the books you get your book and get Susan's book again a personal book is built for each child a manual of what is being learned a guidepost to further learning a more elaborate book than before as the child's concepts are enlarged with key words printed in to expose the child to the idea of reading and writing and to start the process of learning the Psalms of the alphabet [Music] yes you have a purple flower and what's this oh is it blue well maybe so it's a blue flower I guess it is and what's that yes that's a fly in the fly goes [Music] pack could you tell me what that is that's a flower that's a pretty pink flower Pat let's try that again can you say flower a little more breath flower it's better and a little more breath flower travel make it pretty make it a pretty voice make it Pleasant to listen to make it easy to understand here is the one great heartache for the deaf the almost impossible admonition the miracle is that speech never heard should be learned at all very good once more flowers that's better flower Baba very good you forgot your L live time flour like that it takes more than vocal cords to speak more than hearing to hear it takes wanting to and trying it takes a stimulated mind and a willingness to work it takes a relationship between child and teacher that makes the child anxious to please takes love and patience and deep understanding understanding of the problems of the Dead and the problems of the child [Music] the earphone to your ear that's the girl put your hand up and make a fist though the child will work more and more within a group training and progress will remain individual so now from time to time as responses become more dependable accurate audiometer tests are made to determine the degree of usable hearing it's all right fine all right now I want you to put the earphone to your other we're growing up we're five years old and attending the preschool class some pretty important advances here just sitting still and sharing the teacher's time with other children is one thing about writing is another not actually learning to write but that there is such a thing as writing and preparing for the simple mechanics of it first we'll write lollipops Circle for the candy and a line for the stick a circle and a line a circle and a line and for something to write about today we'll have a news item Leslie is going to visit his home tomorrow what will you do at home Leslie tell us what will you do what will you do [Music] are you going to play with Diana your baby's sister I will play I will play ever been with Diana good boy where will you go will you go to the zoo will you go to the movies will you go to the park where will you go you and Diana where will you go mmm we will go Leslie will play with Diana this is more than a news item is the first important opening into an understanding of the complete word until now they have been mere fragments formed by the lips [Music] actually they are still fragments to these children represented by those hieroglyphics on the board but as the alphabet becomes more meaningful to them the words will fill out it's a long slow climb but they will accomplish it how about it Carol does that seem like an awful lot of work just to get ready to go into first grade it is a lot of work but your teachers will help to make it fun and you'll do it so will Mike [Music] so will be so will all the others who started out with you some of you will do it better than others some will do it fast but you'll have that all-important training in these all-important early years when you get to first grade you'll have a foundation to build on and a pattern of learning to help you build [Music] first grade first of the long and difficult steps to the three r's and though there's no big change in our pattern of learning we have taken that very important step from preschool to grade school Harvey will you start reading come back Joan I'm a big Bobby um Pat Tern I see Christine okay [Music] at certain times along the road the deaf child encounters wholly new and mystifying concerts things they never even dreamed of before because they've never heard them as a hearing child does and they meet them here for the first time things like pronouns Harvey has a new shirt let me see this nice new white shirt is very nice and look Harvey has a new tie too isn't that a beautiful time it's a very nice tie I'm gonna write about that too but shall I write I don't say Harvey Harvey say the same thing that means Harvey they've learned the lip movements that mean Harvey now they must learn that he is him may also mean Harvey Joan may be she or her or hers Harvey and Joan together may be they them or theirs it's quite confusing especially when there's no sound that goes with it only the movement of the lips but they learn it it takes time but they learn it then she found me a new pair of shoes second grade we're learning about arithmetic and for us arithmetic also means language and speech and lip reading Mary's mother made eight cookies for her one day and Mary ate four of them how many cookies did she have left all right Donna you come and show us that story awesome [Music] can you show me all right well show me Merry eggs [Music] now I have something you don't know whether I bought it or whether I found it or whether someone gave it to me now I want you to ask me some questions about it and then you'll find out what I have a creation how many things are awesome nine I have a question headache as I saw everybody yes they're for everybody I have a question Susan did somebody gave it to you Susan said did someone gave it to you is that right Birds whoever invented verbs was no friend of the death it's a problem for the hearing ten times compounded for the death [Music] okay give them to you third grade and whatever else we're studying the emphasis is always on speech and language we have learned about these states and now we're going to learn about this state do you know the name of that Stadium now I'm going to tell all of you things about North Dakota it is a big day there are no mountains there are many flat lands there are large Farms did you know that the Farms were big in North Dakota Roslyn no I didn't know that I didn't know that not easy to understand was it not too Pleasant to listen to let's recognize this problem for what it is it will never be easy to understand never Pleasant to listen to yet this is a tremendous accomplishment for the Deaf to learn sounds that they have never heard much better fourth grade and the linked journey of knowledge and words goes on every vocabulary Gap blocks the path to knowledge find the gaps and fill them in that process never stops now let's go on with the story and like to imagine things and make up wonderful stories usually when she told these stories to Philip he would believe her until he saw his father's eyes twinkling now twinkling is the new word we've just had is there another new word in the paragraph Jeanette imagine that's a new word what does imagine mean I think you mentioned means you think it means wondering well that's that's pretty near I think it means to form a picture in your mind can you use imagine in a sentence for me I act three mention that I am a princess stagma I like to imagine yourself being a princess who can think of another sentence using the word imagine Judy hey get Invasion that a dog cat dog you can't imagine that a dog could talk well I can't imagine that either fifth grade and now there's the very normal problem of self-consciousness to contend with we don't like to say that we don't understand so teacher uses a funny story to test us when Daniel Webster with Daniel Webster knew his hands were very dirty wiped one hand on his trout and put the other behind his back teacher looked at his hand and she said a very dirty hand I shall have to punish you if I don't find one that's dirtier you put out the other hand [Laughter] don't you and marry and understand story no well I'll tell you again Daniel Webster was at a very good seventh grade and in the brightness of these sessions we almost forget that for these children there is little or no sound to guide them only the movement of the lips Barbara organized in October 1945. who can tell me why the U.N was organized Juanita you try but United Nations lost organized to help the nations of the world work together for peace eighth grade and now we're young ladies pressing onto a milestone and thanks to good training and loving guidance eager for what lies ahead a message when we can learn it but what made you ask that because they will be heaving boys and girls in my class and you and I want them to like me the hearing boys and girls will like you don't worry about it just have patience I know you've all heard this before but it's very important one big thing in the relationship between the hearing and the death is patience and as you well know most hearing people don't have much patience so you have to have it and you can accept that responsibility gracefully because you know you have an advantage in your contacts with the hearing you understand their problem they don't understand yours so they have come the full circle from Happy children unafraid of the world because unaware of the obstacles before them to well-poised young women unafraid of the world because they know the obstacles and to this point at least they have overcome them well Carol that's it there's a lot more of it of course or you'll do a lot of living on your road to the hearing world it may be that we'll have a chance to visit with you from time to time to see your progress along that road whether it be here or elsewhere maybe a visit with Mike too and with B and with Pat and Susan good luck kids you're in good hands and there's a good life to be won and dearly to be treasured there are brighter hearts for those who love you they have brought here a deaf child take home child [Music]