IV

SCHOOLS FOR DEFECTIVE CHILDREN IN

EUROPE1

Having been appointed by our school board to make a tour of inspection to the European institutions for the education of defective children, it may be of interest to other school boards and educators to read some of my experiences.

Were I to relate in detail what I saw in the different schools, it would make a very lengthy and uninteresting article; therefore, I shall generalize and mention only the things that appealed to me as worthy of consideration.

I should not like to have it understood that I think any one system is perfect or that the adoption of one or the other as a whole would be to our advantage. This is not the case; but, in each place, I saw something worthy of attention and, perhaps, of imitation.

Some things that we are just beginning to realize as essential are firmly established in all the countries I visited. The most important of these is that every child must be placed where he belongs, and where he can be trained so that he will be able to lead the most useful existence possible. The bright pupils should not be placed with the dull ones to discourage the latter, or vice versa, to be dragged down by them.

PLACE CHILD WHERE HE BELONGS

This can easily be done in countries where the children of well-to-do and intelligent parents pay tuition. There, greater demand can be made upon the child and the curriculum may be broader. It stands to reason that, generally speaking, the child of professional and intelligent parents is able to un'From the report to the school board of Frances Wettstein, principal of the Milwaukee Day School for the Deaf.

derstand a science at an earlier age than the child of ignorant parents. In a democratic country, it seems to me, schools could be so arranged that, in a district where intelligent people reside, a foreign language and a science could be placed in the curriculum; while in districts where the great majority are foreigners, more time could be devoted to English, for the lack of a good command of English is the drawback to the average young man or woman of foreign parentage.

I realize that this classification is a difficult problem to adjust to our conditions, but we ought not to depreciate its importance, and perhaps some one wiser than myself will be able to suggest a good plan by which the curriculum could be enriched for the brightest ones and curtailed and made more practical for the duller ones. This would include more systematic technical training between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.

SPECIAL CLASSES

Classes for special children are established almost everywhere. In New York I visited a class for foreigners. For these a special course in English is prepared, and, after three or four months' work in language, the pupils are ready to take their places in their regular grades.

The above are problems easily disposed of, but the following are of greater psychological interest and more difficult to solve.

BACKWARD CHILDREN

After a child has been in school for one year and has failed, he is examined by eye, ear, and nerve specialists, and the cause for his retardation determined. If it is caused by defective eyesight, proper glasses are provided; if parents are unable, the community provides them. If the sight is very defective, pupils are sent to the classes for blind children. The only difficulty here is the transportation. In London, the city pays the carfare and also pays a friend or neighbor a small compensation for bringing the child to school.

Where the specialists find that the defect is mental or

nervous, the children are sent to a school for backward children. These are graded into primary, intermediate, and advanced classes. As a rule, some children with defective speech are found among these, therefore articulation teachers are employed. For these nervous children special rooms called veranda rooms are provided. Here, when the weather permits, the windows can be so opened that the pupils practically do the work out of doors.

The diet is prescribed by the neurologist; milk at recess, and a hearty meal at noon are provided by the city; the breakfast and supper by the parents. Gymnastics are given by one who understands corrective work. Baths are of vital importance, and arrangements are such that they can be given according to the directions of the specialist. In the best school of this kind that I visited, the children, according to their needs, are given massage, electrical treatment, color and sun baths. All the care given under the direction of the physician. In order to make these children as useful as possible and no burden to the community after they grow up, they are taught a trade, and the foundation for this is laid when they are about thirteen. This is done systematically and thoroly. Those children who are so weak that they would under all circumstances, if they remained among normal people, become a menace to the community, are sent to permanent homes.

GARDENING

In these schools for the backward and also in the disciplinary schools much time and great care are bestowed upon the gardens. The work in the garden not only benefits the child physically, but it has a wholesome effect upon the mind, and elevates his thoughts.

In disciplinary schools it is given as a preventive to evil thoughts, for if the child becomes physically tired in the open air he will fall asleep when he touches the pillow, and consequently have no time for the planning of unwholesome deeds. And, last but not least, the economic value is taken into consideration. This department, as a rule, is in charge of an

expert; the fertilization of the land, cross-fertilization of plants, the commercial and hygienic value of each product being observed and discust. There was no haphazard teaching, but valuable and systematic instruction given wherever I saw these school gardens.

SCHOOL FOR CRIPPLES

Near the school for backward children is usually found the school for cripples, for the physical care of these is somewhat like that given to the backward. Those who have malformation of the organs of speech are operated upon, provided with artificial palate, teeth, or whatever they may need; adjustable chairs, braces, wheel chairs, crutches, etc., all these are provided at the expense of the state, if necessary. The primary object in all these schools is to make each person self-supporting, and therefore the learning of some trade is the important end they seek to achieve.

DEFECTIVE HEARING

According to the Betzhold method of testing the hearing, it can be very definitely determined whether a child has enough hearing to profitably attend school with those who have absolutely normal hearing. Great care is taken in testing the hearing, and only a specialist of the highest rank has charge of this. I witnest a test of this kind which took at least two hours, but at the end of that time the teacher was informed which elements the child could hear. The result was gained by striking tuning forks attuned to a certain tone in the musical scale. The aurist made his deductions from the knowledge he possest as to which tone the different elements would respond. It was very complicated, and I, more than ever, realize how important it is to have a specialist test the hearing of the pupils in the public schools, and especially in the school for the deaf.

In large cities there are separate schools or classes in different parts of the city for those with slight defective hearing

and for those who lost their hearing after they had acquired language.

Then there are the regular schools for the deaf for those of average intelligence and for those who are somewhat below the average in mental ability. The pupils in all these schools are taught by the oral method, and live either at home or are boarded out in families. The communities in which the children reside are compelled by law to provide for the maintenance of such children whose parents are unable to do so.

HIGHER EDUCATION

In no country that I have visited has the intelligent and bright deaf person such an opportunity to develop mentally and to gain a higher education than in America. I think this is a conservative statement, tho it may be termed extravagant and boastful by my foreign colleagues. However, it is my honest opinion, and I can not see it otherwise.

Every principal or superintendent advanced the opinion that, in order to fit the boy or girl for life among the hearing, he ought to learn his trade or gain his higher education with hearing people. Therefore, when conditions will permit, pupils should continue their higher education in the high schools or trade schools with hearing boys and girls. As some will always be among these who are not self-assertive, but timid, it is advisable to have a teacher at the school whose duty it is to give them such attention and special help as are needed.2

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION

In Germany, Norway, and Denmark the apprentice system is still in vogue, and the boy is compelled by law to attend the common evening or continuation school while he is learning a trade. These continuation schools are technical or trade schools for boys and girls, and are in session from four until eight o'clock. The academic work with the deaf is given by specialists. A boy or a girl at the age of sixteen or seventeen, when he is still willing to begin at the foot of the ladder, is 2 This has been introduced in our Milwaukee schools.