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Ninth Annual Report Of The Trustees Of The Perkins Institution And Massachusetts Asylum For The Blind
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145 | By her teachers then, and by all concerned, the attempt to develope the whole nature of this interesting being will be continued with all the zeal which affection can inspire; it will be continued too, with a full reliance upon the innate powers of the the -sic- human soul; and with an humble confidence that it will have the blessing of Him who hears even the young ravens when they cry. | |
146 | All of which is respectfully submitted. | |
147 | SAM'L G. HOWE. | |
148 | NOTE TO APPENDIX A. | |
149 | THE number of persons who have been deprived of both sight and hearing, has been supposed to be very small. There had been but one case upon record, I believe, in England, before that of James Mitchell, mentioned by Dugald Stewart. There has been one noticed quite recently, in France; and there is the well-known case of Julia Brace, at Hartford. | |
150 | But I am inclined to think these melancholy cases are more frequent than has been supposed. I have seen a boy in Rhode Island, who has been deaf, dumb, and blind, since he was four years old: he is now fourteen. His parents, who are very poor and benighted people, resisted all efforts to have him brought to this Institution. I have seen him several times, and was pained to find, on my last visit, that he was indulged and pampered in his appetites; and had contracted habits, which lead directly to intemperance. | |
151 | There is a girl in Vermont, of whose case I have all the particulars, and who will probably be brought here soon. | |
152 | A correspondent in Ireland has recently informed me, that a very interesting case had been discovered in Belfast, of a little girl quite deaf and blind. Some intelligent persons had made arrangements to have her instructed in the manner that Laura has been; but, at the last dates, the mother had absconded with her child, preferring the gain which she made by showing her offspring as a monster, to her real welfare. | |
153 | A very melancholy case was recently brought to me for advice. It was that of a boy of very prepossessing appearance, fourteen years old, who, two months before, was in the possession, of all his senses, and remarkable only for precocious mental activity. He was considered an extraordinary boy, and his mental activity was doubtless the effect of morbid sensibility of the brain, which could probably have been cured by entire cessation of study. | |
154 | Suddenly, his sight began to fail; and in a few weeks he became entirely blind. Hardly had his parents recovered from the stunning influence of this blow, before they remarked with alarm that his hearing began to be affected, and they brought him to this city for advice. | |
155 | When I saw him, his hearing was very obtuse; it was necessary to speak in his ears very loud, to make him hear; and addressing him in this way, seemed like calling to a departing spirit, which was rapidly fading away. His mind was not affected at all; but it was getting closed up in the body, and as much beyond the reach of other minds, as though his body were in the act of being enclosed in mason work. | |
156 | I recommended that immediate advantage should be taken of what hearing remained, to teach him the manual alphabet, because, afterwards, it would be a very slow process. This was two months ago, and I have not since heard of him. |