SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13178, 6 October 1914, Page 6

SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF

PRAISE OF THE ORAL SYSTEM, WRLLINOTON, Opt. 3, Mr J E Stevens, dnectoi of the Rehool foi the Donf at Suninoi, has furnished n lepoit to tho Government hi legaid to his investigations in Oicat Bntaiii and on the Continent of Em ope. Tho icsult of his investigations goes to show that New Zealand is pioeeedmg on light lines. "Among the tenchcis I met," he wntos, "the consensus of opinion was ovciwholminglv in fnvoui of the oinl svstein, which is fast gaining giound in England, and which is pimtieallj the only svstciu in use on the Conti nent. Indeed, I scaicelj met n teacher v\ho tlicoitticnllj, at least, was not an oialist, In England I found silent (lasses taught nninly bj the manual alphabet, and by wntmgs. Tho per ocntage of pupils taught by silent methods vanes niwh m diffoicnt schools mid tends to got less and loss, as the oral system gets moris and more firmly established., I carefully observed the work done ,in somo of these silent classes,'mid found nothing to make uie chnngo my previous conviction, viz., that the oral system rightly applied can do more for deaf childron of poor mental endowment than any silent system can do, Tho presence of silent classes mid the use of the manual alphabet in oral schools for the deaf appear to me to be objectionablo in every respect, and should not bo tolorntcd."