Genre:

Essay

Relevant illustrations:

eng. [6]

Subjects:

Disability, Education, Colleges, Endeavour, Humanism

People mentioned:

Thomas Braidwood , Thomas H Gallaudet

    Gives an account of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Washington dc, 'the only deaf-mute college in the world', which was founded in 1857 by Amos Kendall, and since then has been administered by Edward M Gallaudet (187). Describes the particular mode of teaching employed at the college, which requires all the 'woman's patience' of the predominantly female teachers as well as the hard work of the scholarly 'little hero[s]', and by which the deaf 'children learn to read, write, and speak (in their language)' (184). Gives a brief history of the several different 'method[s] of instruction for the deaf and dumb', including the system of sign-language devised in the eighteenth century by Charles M de L'Epée in France, and the method of lip-reading developed at the same time by Samuel Heinicke in Germany, and notes that the College is 'decidedly in favor of a combined system' (186–87). Concludes by explaining that the 'number of deaf-mutes in the country [i.e. the United States] is about thirty-five thousand', and that 'Dumbness without deafness is seldom met with except in idiots, but total congenital deafness is invariably accompanied by dumbness. Deafness may be primarily incidental to diseases of the head and ears, fevers, etc., but in three cases out of five it is congenital' (187).