Let it be assumed that when the child is fifteen months old it is fairly
well established that his hearing is somewhat below normal. Between
fifteen months and two years of age all that is said in this section
will apply equally to the child who is _feared_ to be _totally_ deaf and
to one who is known to possess some sound perception, though not a
normal degree of hearing. For, until he is old enough to respond to more
complete and accurate tests, we must not give up the idea that he may
have a sufficient remnant of hearing to be of great assistance to him in
the acquisition of speech and language, if it is only developed and
trained.

Between the ages of twelve months and twenty-four months the child with
perfect hearing makes rapid progress in learning to understand what is
said to him, and by the time he is two years old has usually begun to
speak many words and sentences in a more or less imperfect way. This has
been accomplished principally by the mother's constant talking to her
baby. If she has had the good sense to always speak in simple but
complete sentences, and to avoid the foolish "baby talk" unfortunately
affected by some people in addressing little children, the results of
her daily and hourly talk is the possession by the child of a
considerable vocabulary of words whose meaning he knows, and a less
number that he is able himself to speak in a rather imperfect way.

In what respects should the mother modify her treatment of the baby if
she suspects that his hearing is defective? She should not talk to him
any the less on this account, but, on the contrary, she should talk to
him more. She should, however, speak a little louder, a little nearer to
him, possibly a little more slowly and distinctly, exercising the