437 DEAF AND DUMB, INSTITUTIONS FOR THE. 



DEAF AND DUMB, INSTITUTIONS FOR THE. 43S 



removed from delicate health, 13 left school, chiefly from removal of 

 parents, during education, 11 were private pupils, who returned to 

 their friends, 47 have made no return to the inquiries instituted; 174 

 of the 296 were boys, who have been put to the following trades : 32 

 shoemakers, boot-closers, cordwainers, 28 labourers, or farm servants, 



16 tailors, 12 employed in mills, factories and clothing trades, 10 

 cutlery, and Sheffield trades, 9 joiners, cabinet makers, carvers, turners, 

 French polishers, 8 letter-press printers, or compositors, 8 engravers, or 

 wood-engravers, 7 engineers, mechanics, moulders, pattern makers, 



5 farmers, 4 lithographers, or lithographic printers, 4 pattern designers, 

 4 quarrymen, 3 bookbinders, 3 gardeners, 2 clerks, 2 painters and 

 decorators, 2 bakers, 2 artists, 2 nailmakers, 11 at sundry occupations, 

 as under ; namely, 1 assistant at institution, 1 stenciller, 1 hawker, 1 

 brickmaker, 1 modeller, 1 type-founder, 1 collier, 1 miller, 1 watch- 

 maker, 1 porter, and 1 hairdresser. 



The 122 girls have been brought up to the following employments : 

 44 dressmakers; 31 assist in domestic duties, sewing, &c., at home; 



1 7 servants or laundresses ; 1 4 milliners, dress and bonnet makers ; 

 10 burlers, reelers, winders, weavers ; 2 boot and shoe-binders ; 4 sun- 

 dries (tailoreas, cap-maker, lacemender), &c. Of the 296 included in 

 the above summary, we have full and satisfactorily attested returns 

 on 217. 



The next important object of this inquiry was to ascertain the facility 

 with which the pupils who had been put to trades acquired them, in 

 comparison with young people not deaf and dumb. Of the 132 boys, 

 it is found that 80 acquired their business as well as others, 28 

 nearly as well as others, 9 more readily than those not deaf and dumb, 

 and 10 not so well as those who hear and speak ; 5 cases are doubtful. 

 Of the girls it is ascertained that 55 acquired their business as well as 

 others, 21 nearly as well, 5 more readily than others, 3 not so well, 

 1 case doubtful. The summary of the whole 217 will stand as under : 

 135 acquired their business as well as others, 49 nearly as well, 14 more 

 readily than young people generally, 13 not so well as those who hear 

 and speak, 6 doubtful cases. 



A conclusion very favourable to the pupils may therefore be formed ; 

 they are, to say the least, equal to young people endowed with all their 

 faculties; for if only 13 out of 217 failed to a certain extent in 

 acquiring their business, it may be fairly inferred that an equal number 

 of failures would have occurred out of 217 persons with all the advan- 

 tages of speech and hearing ; and it must be borne in mind that in 

 nearly all cases these children were under the disadvantage (referred to 

 by some of their employers) of associating with parties not accustomed 

 to the deaf and dumb, who found it difficult to explain their precise 

 meaning, or give directions with accuracy. On the other hand, several 

 of the employers are so thoroughly satisfied, that they express their 

 willingness to take other pupils from the institution. Knough has 

 been ascertained with regard to the facility of the pupils in acquiring 

 trades to force this conclusion on the public mind, namely, 



That the deaf and dumb, at a body, acquire trade* quite at well a 

 those ichu hear and apeak. 



The part of the inquiry on which the greatest anxiety has been felt 

 regarded the character and conduct of the pupils after quitting the 

 institution. A deaf and dumb young person attracts attention which 

 others do not ; and while one party by over-indulgence would manifest 

 unusual and uncalled-for kindness towards such a person when thrown 

 on the world, another would heartlessly lead him astray, by indulging 

 him in propensities which require to be checked. 



On this point, knowing there is a liability to error, it may be observed 

 that a deaf and dumb apprentice ought to be treated precisely like 

 ordinary apprentices ; in his business he should be shoim what others 

 are ti,ld of operations and their effects, and this thtmimj will generally 

 repay the little extra trouble required, in the accuracy of its results, 

 compared with telling in ordinary cases. He should neither be treated 

 more harshly nor more indulgently than others, and his general treat- 

 ment should manifest to him that he is considered morally and mentally 

 responsible in the same sense as others. 



With reference to the reports received as to the conduct and cha- 

 racter of the boys : 98 are reported of favourably, 18 very favourably, 



6 have given cause of complaint, 3 have misconducted themselves, and 

 in 7 cases the reports are doubtful. Of the girls : S/i are reported of 

 favourably, 21 very favourably, 6 have given cause of complaint, 3 have 

 misconducted themselves. So that the summary of the 2 1 7 will appear 

 thus : 1 53 are reported of favourably, 39 very favourably, 12 have given 

 occasional cause for complaint, 6 have behaved very ill, 7 doubtful. 



It H matter for congratulation, that out of 217 cases there are only 

 !x of immoral conduct, while the large proportion are well reported of. 

 ( )f the slight causes of complaint, several of them are cases of obstinacy, 

 but the question may arise whether the same proportion would not 

 have occurred in ordinary cases whether out of 217 apprentices, from 

 any class, to many would have been reported of favourably, and so fern 

 unfavourably ? 



Although the above statement refers to only one institution, there is 

 every reason to believe that reports equally favourable might be 

 obtained from many others ; as the result of a direct inquiry made at 

 all the institutions on this point, it may be inferred that all the pupils, 

 with the exception of about 6 or 6 per cent., conduct themselves 

 creditably in after life. Such results show the public that their expen- 

 diture in support of institutions for the deaf and dumb is well repaid, 



and lead to the question why those of general education are less satis- 

 factory. The system of boarding the children must be credited with a 

 certain measure of these favourable effects ; the children are separated 

 from the evil influences of towns, and placed under the charge of chosen 

 assistants, who superintend them both in and out of school for five or 

 six years, and during this time habits of regularity, propriety, industry, 

 and attention to moral and social duties are formed, which must assist 

 materially in influencing their future lives. With children not labouring 

 under their privation, a similar system would doubtless be productive 

 of equally good results ; and as less time would be required in school, 

 the industrial element might be added, and time applied to productive 

 arts which would reduce the cost of education to such an amount as a 

 small tradesman or a skilled mechanic might pay without inconvenience. 



Although the instruction and education of the deaf and dumb have 

 become more general, by the extension of the older, and the establish- 

 ment of new institutions, there is some doubt whether the quality of 

 the instruction has materially improved. Thirty years ago, a danger 

 was felt that much of the practical application of the art would be 

 lost, for no means had been taken to give permanence to any series of 

 lessons by means of the press. The different teachers experimented, 

 and carried out what seemed right in their own eyes ; they had the 

 theories of those who had lived before them, but no series of lessons 

 reduced to order, and no aids for those who were inclined to take up 

 the work as a profession. In the year 1841 two of the teachers resolved 

 to print their early lessons, not only for the use of their own pupils, 

 but also to give form and substance to their manuscripts, and to 

 establish a beaten track which others might widen and improve, and 

 from which they might deviate into better paths. A copy of this 

 confessedly imperfect work was sent to every institution in the kingdom. 

 Since then some attempts have been made by other instructors to 

 supply a series of lessons, but none have met with general acceptance. 

 To this work teachers should at once apply themselves. A concentrated 

 effort can alone be successful. None of the British teachers agree in 

 considering the work published by Dr. Peet of New York as meeting 

 their view of what is required, while there are several individuals 

 among them fully capable of projecting and carrying out a preparatory 

 course of instruction very superior to it. Nearly every teacher will 

 agree with the writer of this article that no series of lessons hitherto 

 published in England meets the views they entertain of what such a 

 series should be, and it is to be hoped their attention, as a body, 

 will soon be directed to tliis their most manifest want, and to the means 

 of supplying it. 



In the year 1857, the committee of the London asylum published an 

 ' Illustrated Vocabulary for the Deaf and Dumb.' This work contains 

 4000 woodcuts of objects, with their names arranged alphabetically ; 

 the engravings are generally well-executed, but the arrangement is as 

 bad as could be adopted. One-half the expense incurred, with a suit- 

 able distribution of lesson-matter, would have given our institutions a 

 book of immense practical value to them. In its present form, it is a 

 capital family picture-book, without reference to the deaf and dumb, 

 but only where price is no object ; to the latter it is of little value, 

 except as a dictionary or book of reference. Every teacher of the deaf 

 and dumb is ready to contradict the statement put forth, that it is 

 " eminently adapted to assist teachers in their endeavours to impart to 

 the deaf-mute a knowledge of language through the faculty of sight, 

 and to enable him to use words as the expression of his thoughts, and 

 a.* the means of communication with his fellow beings." The wood- 

 cuts, however, might be rendered very serviceable under a different 

 arrangement, with a comparatively small number of additional ones. 

 If one portion of the work were made quite elementary, consisting of 

 a certain number of easy nouns, printed on one side or on both, and 

 purchasable in either form, many copies of such portion would be 

 required in every institution, for beginners spoil many copies of their 

 first books or lessons. This portion might be followed by successive 

 ones ; as examples of the .singular and plural, of adjectives, of prepo- 

 sitions, of verbs, of adverbs ; and other grammatical forms of language 

 might be represented with little more labour than re-arrangement. 

 The republication of the work thus disposed, in parts, would be a boon 

 to both teachers and pupils, and really assist deaf-mutes in obtaining 

 some " knowledge of language through the faculty of sight." A wealthy 

 establishment might undertake this task, and the committee of the 

 London asylum, having the charge of this ' Illustrated Vocabulary ' 

 bequeathed to them by their late principal, would thus make it widely 

 available to the deaf and dumb of this and other countries, for its use 

 should by no means be confined to the English language ; the French, 

 the German, and other continental schools, would doubtless avail 

 themselves of it, if published in a form acceptable to them. For want 

 of such an arrangement as is here suggested, and in order to make the 

 present work available, several institutions have used two copies to 

 make one, by cutting out the whole of the pictures, and remounting 

 them in a progressive and classified form. Abacus, abbess, abbey, abbot, 

 abyss, acacia, acanthus, acclivity, and accountant, are certainly not the 

 first words a teacher would bring under the notice of his deaf and 

 dumb pupils ; instead of them he would select the names of common 

 objects, known to the children, short, and easy of imitation in writing, 

 such as hat, nut, pin, pen, cat, ftc. It is to be hoped that a future 

 edition of the work will be published under some such progressive 

 arrangement, and that in other respects it will be freed from the grave 



