Library Collections: Document: Full Text

Helen now understood that everything had a name and that by placing the fingers in certain positions we could communicate these names to each other. Since that day my method of teaching her has been to let her examine an object carefully and then give her its name with my fingers. Never did a child apply herself more joyfully to any task than did Helen to the acquisition of new words. In a few days she had mastered the manual alphabet, and learned upwards of a hundred names. At the end of August she knew six hundred and twenty-five words.

At first it was necessary to use a great many signs in conversation with her; but these were laid aside as soon as the better medium of communication was established.

Next I taught her the verbs, beginning with sit, stand, shut, open. As the spelling of each word was accompanied by the action it represented she soon caught its meaning, and almost immediately used it in forming sentences. The verb give was troublesome, but she mastered it in a few days.

This lesson was followed with one on words indicative of place relations. Her dress was put in a trunk, and then on it, and these prepositions were spelled for her. Very soon she learned the difference between on and in, though it was some time before she could use these words in sentences of her own. Whenever it was possible she was made the actor in the lesson, and was delighted to stand on the chair, and to be put into the wardrobe. In this way she learned the force of these words more quickly than she could have done with the use of a box and ring. In connection with this lesson she learned the names of the members of the family and the word is. "Helen is in wardrobe," "Mildred is in crib," "Box is on table," "Papa is on bed," are specimens of sentences constructed by the child during the latter part of April.

Next came a lesson on words expressive of positive quality. For the first lesson I had two balls, one made of worsted, large and soft, the other a bullet. She perceived the difference in size at once. Taking the bullet she made her habitual sign for small, -- that is, by pinching a little bit of the skin of one hand. Then she took the other ball and made her sign for large by spreading both hands over it. I substituted the adjectives large and small for these signs. Then her attention was called to the hardness of the one ball and the softness of the other, and so she learned soft and hard. A few minutes afterwards she felt of her little sister's head and said to her mother, "Mildred's head is small and hard." Next I tried to teach her the meaning of fast and slow. She helped me wind some worsted one day, first rapidly and afterward slowly. I then said to her with the finger alphabet, "wind fast," or "wind slow," holding her hands and showing her how to do as I wished. The next day while exercising she spelled to me, "Helen wind fast," and began to walk rapidly. Then she said, "Helen wind slow," again suiting the action to the words.

May-day she came to me and said, "give Helen key open door;" I then taught her the word will and she learned at once to say, "give Helen key and Helen will open door." I had tried a few mornings before to make her understand the use of the conjunction and, which she now supplies of her own accord.

She often surprises me in this way. When I think I have failed to make something plain to her and conclude to await another opportunity she anticipates me and shows me that she has already caught my meaning. I now thought it time to teach her to read printed words. A slip on which was printed, in raised letters, the word box was placed on that object; and the same experiment was tried with a great many articles, but she did not immediately comprehend that the label-name represented the thing. Then I took an alphabet sheet and put her finger on the letter A, at the same time making A with my fingers. She moved her finger from one printed character to another as I formed each letter on my fingers. Incredible as it may seem, she learned all the letters, both capital and small, in one day. Next I turned to the first page of the Primer and made her touch the word cat, spelling it on my fingers at the same time. Instantly she caught the idea, and asked me to find dog and many other words. Indeed she was much displeased because I could not find her name in the book. Just then I had no sentences in raised letters which she could understand, all of them being for more advanced pupils; but she would sit for hours feeling of each word in her book. When she touched one with which she was familiar a peculiarly sweet expression would light up her face, and we saw her countenance growing sweeter and more earnest every day. About this time I sent a list of the words she knew to Mr. Anagnos and he very kindly had them printed for her. Her mother and I cut up several sheets of printed words so that she could arrange them into sentences. This delighted her more than anything she had yet done; and the practice thus obtained prepared the way for the writing lessons. There was no difficulty in making her understand how to write the same sentences with pencil and paper which she made every day with the slips, and she very soon perceived that she need not confine herself to phrases already learned but could communicate any thought that was passing through her mind. I put one of the writing boards used by the blind between the folds of the paper on the table, and allowed her to examine an alphabet of the square letters, such as she was to make. I then guided her hand so as to form the sentence, "cat does drink milk." When she finished it she was overjoyed. She carried it to her mother, who spelled it to Helen as she read it. The child could scarcely restrain her excitement and joy as each word was thus repeated to her.