What the Mother of a Deaf Child Ought to Know by John Dutton Wright
page 23 of 69 (33%)
page 23 of 69 (33%)
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the skillful operations now performed by oculists, and, as the sight is
of such increased importance to a deaf child, the greatest care and watchfulness should be given to his eyes. Do not let him sleep, or lie, facing the sun, or any other powerful light, but throughout his life be careful that all his use of eyesight be under conditions of ample and well-directed light. Supposing that the simple tests referred to heretofore have shown that the eyes, as optical instruments, are sufficiently perfect, our efforts need to be to train the brain to take cognizance of, and to interpret the impressions transmitted to it by the eyes. We shall not be able to improve the working of the eye by our efforts, but we can educate the brain. Color and form make the earliest appeal to the child's eyes, and we can use them for our educational play. The duplicate set of worsted balls of the seven primal colors can be increased to include easily distinguishable shades. The child can be sent on entertaining voyages of discovery around the room with a ball of a certain color to find other objects similar in color in the rugs, books, chairs, dresses, ties, etc. A game to develop observation of form can be made by collecting a group of objects of varying shapes in a pile on the floor or a low table; mother picks up some one of the objects, directs the attention of the little one to it, and after he has observed it somewhat she puts it back in the pile and moves all the objects about till they are well mixed up. Ask the little fellow then to pick out the object mother held in her hand a moment before. When he can do this by sight without difficulty, have him shut his eyes, place an object in his little hands, teach him to feel it over carefully, take it from him, and, while his eyes are still closed, place it once more in the pile. Let him then open his eyes |
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