CONCLUSIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE WORK FOR THE DEAF IN AMERICA
We have now examined the position of the deaf in society in America and the course and the extent of the treatment accorded them. It only remains for us to inquire if this treatment is well-considered, and how far it is commensurate with the real, actual needs of the deaf, and at the same time consonant with the larger interests of society.
The question of paramount concern to society is in respect to the possibilities of the prevention of deafness. As yet it would seem that only a minor degree of attention had been directed to this consideration, though it is likely that in the future much more serious study and thought will be given to it. The problem is for the greater part in the hands of medical science, and for much of it we shall probably have to wait for solution in the laboratory; while no small aid can be rendered by general measures for the protection of health. Already there can be little doubt that there is less deafness from certain diseases than in the past, though the statistics that we have on the question are not as definite as could be wished. The matter is really a part of the long battle against disease, and as human skill takes one position after another, it may be that many of those diseases bringing deafness will be forced to yield, and that such deafness will thus cease in great part to be an affliction upon human flesh.
Eugenics also will be looked to for help, and it may in time bring to light much that is now hidden from our ken. As yet our knowledge of the causes of deafness from birth is very imperfect. A small part may be ascribed to consanguineous marriages, and a larger part to the marriages of those whose families are affected with deafness, these perhaps not being wholly distinct, and together comprising a little over half of congenital deafness. Marriages of relatives, even though not of frequent occurrence so far as deafness is affected, have a relation to it which is not to be ignored. Intermarriages of the deaf themselves are not found for the most part to result in deaf offspring; while the likelihood of such is not always greater when both parents are deaf than when one is deaf and the other hearing. The one distinct fact of which we seem altogether certain in this matter is that when there is in the parent congenital deafness, or especially when there are deaf relatives concerned, the chances are vastly increased of deaf offspring. These are the danger signals, and not to be passed without heed. As to that form of deafness occurring when consanguinity and antecedent deafness are not involved, we are in greater ignorance. For most of it, however, we may believe that there is inherited some strain or influence predisposing to deafness; and that in the discovery and application of eugenic principles a greater or less portion will be eliminated.
Though, so far as is discernible from the immediate prospect, we cannot look to an early disappearance of deafness from the race, there are indications at present that deafness is tending to become less. The probabilities are that the future will be able to report advance, and so far as the ultimate results are concerned, we have no reason to be other than hopeful.
In respect to what has been accomplished for the deaf since America has become concerned in them, we have a record that may well be a distinct cause of pride. The work for the deaf in America is hardly a hundred years old. Yet in that time there has transpired what, without violence being done to language, can be called a revolution. A century ago the deaf were practically outside the pale of human thought and activities. They were in a measure believed to be without reason, and were little less than outcasts in society. To-day they have become active components of the state, possessed of education, on a level with their fellow-men nearly everywhere in the scale of human employment, capable of all the responsibilities of life, and standing in the full stature of citizenship.
Perhaps the first workers for the deaf had not placed their faith too high after all, when they declared that the deaf and dumb were to be restored to the ranks of their species. Perhaps, after all, the visions of these men have come true. Perhaps this that we call education has had something of the power they were trying to articulate. For it has come about that a part of society known as the deaf and dumb has been brought to a place of honor and worth and usefulness in the community in which they live.
However much of what was claimed has been achieved, it is certain that a great part has been realized. It has been by a slow, silent process, keeping time with the years, but none the less wonderful things have been wrought; and through it all the advance of the deaf has been constant and onward. It might be said with all truth that this whole progress has been simply the march of events. Education has ever been the master passion of Americans, and in its wide sweep the deaf too have been gathered in, and have been borne to the place where all the state had to offer as instruction was laid before them. Yet it remains that by and through all this the deaf have been the gainers as no other people in the world have ever been, and their story is as no other's in the rise of a section of mankind towards the richness and fullness of living which are the fruits of humanized society.
Great indeed can be the rejoicing of the deaf, for they are those to whom the way has been hard and long, but who have come from the darkness into the light.
Yet the victory of the deaf is not complete. They have not reached the full position among men to which they are entitled. So long as people look upon them as an unnatural portion of the race, view them with suspicion or hold them as of peculiar temperament and habits, or otherwise consider them distinct from the rest of their kind, and by voice or in their own consciousness make use of terms or associations that give fixedness to such a classification or differentiation: just so long will the deaf be strangers in the land in which they dwell; and just so far will they be removed from the place in society which should be theirs, and which is accorded to all the rest of their fellow-men.
With regard to their economic position in the world, the deaf have, on the whole, fared well. Their own achievements have thrown out of court the charge that they are a burden upon society. It has been proved by themselves that they are not a dependent class, or a class that should exist to any degree on the bounty of the state. They are wage-earners to an extent that compares well with the rest of the population, and, economically, they form generally a self-sustaining part of society. For a certain number who are aged and infirm and are otherwise uncared for, special homes are to be desired—and with such the need is peculiarly strong. These, however, do not comprise a large part of the deaf; and with their exception there is practically no portion, at least of those with an education, that demands particular economic attention.
The community for the most part has been quite ready and willing to recognize the status of the deaf in this respect. Here the deaf are accepted on equal terms with the people collectively, and are in fact lost in the mass of the world's workers.
The state has perhaps displayed more reluctance to admit the deaf to the standing of its other citizens, largely no doubt due to the fact that in the sphere of law action is usually slow-moving, and responds less readily to newly recognized conditions. Though on the statute books there are found few examples of legislation directed to the deaf as if they were peculiarly in need of the state's attention, and though such are hardly more than reminders of the past legal attitude, they are mostly an anachronism to-day, and should in great part be removed.
The courts have quite generally adopted the true view in regard to the deaf, and hardly anywhere now differentiate them. There is always one particular kind of provision which may be made for the deaf at law, and this is in the employment of interpreters on proper occasion. But even here the matter may be left to the ordinary rules of the court, as well as to the good sense and justice of the law-makers and the law-dispensers.
In most things, special attention of the law in relation to the deaf is not often required, and they should, in nearly all respects, be left in its eyes exactly as the rest of their fellow-citizens. When particular legislation is called for in respect to them, it is needed rather to meet some peculiar or unusual situation, which would probably arise most frequently in connection with some special abuse of the deaf, though such is really seldom likely to occur. Provision for young deaf children who are otherwise without protection may well be included in "children's codes," or in other statutes of similar kind. Useful legislation is also feasible in connection with departments for the deaf in state bureaus of labor, the procedure possible being already indicated; and it may be that a considerable field will be revealed, not only in assisting the deaf in securing employment but also in securing information as to their condition. Opportunity is open to the national government likewise in this regard, and valuable statistics and other information may be collected for the country generally.
In one further direction the law can be invoked very materially in aid of the deaf, and just where very little has been attempted. In every state there should be enactments, backed up by vigorous public opinion and the co-operation of all citizens, providing severe punishment for those who go about begging alms on the pretense that they are deaf and dumb. For such creatures the law should have no mercy. The deaf themselves demand that such impostors be put out of business, for a real and cruel injury is done to them. They ask this as a great boon, but it should be accorded them absolutely as a right.
The deaf do not want alms or pity. But in unnumbered ways can they receive good at the hands of their fellow-men. They need friends as do all others, and power is never lost to the right hand of fellowship. To be desired above all else is the gaining of the right attitude on the part of the community. As one great need, there should be far more attention to the social and spiritual concerns of the deaf, even though they are often found scattered and far apart. There is much that can be done in many communities of a social nature for the deaf, and in manifold forms can life be made more abundant for them. Most important of all, there should be no longer in any place a neglect of the ministrations for the cure of souls, and it should be seen that all of the deaf are made to know the religion of the Man of Galilee, with its untold blessings and consolations.
In our present review of the work for the deaf in America, most of our attention has been directed to the provisions for their education. It may be said that to-day this work is as a rule of a high order, and that in many respects, considering the problems involved, it can compare well with the work of education in general. There is still more or less conflict as to methods, but this does not seem vital to the success of the schools, and their character has in general advanced.
In the beginning of instruction in some of the states we read of the struggles of the early schools, but eager hands came to push on the new work. This work was taken up with an enthusiasm and earnestness scarcely paralleled elsewhere in the history of education, or in any other of the great movements for the betterment of human kind. Strong and brave souls manned the new enterprise, and these early workers are well worthy of honor at our hands.
Oftentimes, at the first, private societies came forward as volunteers in the task of education, but the states early recognized their duty, and usually established schools as soon as they were deemed practicable, either taking over the existing private school or creating one of their own. After a time, as another stage in their development, the schools were made free by express provision, or have become so to all practical purpose. In time also all restrictions or limitations as to the admission of pupils have been in general swept away, and rules and regulations have come more and more to conform with those in the regular schools. Now education is offered to every deaf child, and to the poor and destitute the state provides all collateral necessaries as well, so that instruction may be denied to none.
At present much the larger part of the deaf are educated in institutions. But alongside this plan there has grown, especially of late years, a day school system with the pupils living in their own homes, and the result is that in a number of states such schools have now been established. Their main field is recognized to be in large cities, and it is here that they are able to be of the greatest usefulness. It is still a mooted point, however, how far they have passed the experimental stage, and it probably remains to be determined to what extent they really offer advantages to the deaf over the institutions. As a part of this activity, and as an extension of the general public facilities for education to the entire community, we have also the question of evening schools for adult deaf. There seems to be a definite need for them in certain centers, and it may well be hoped that much greater attention will be given to the matter.
All the schools are really parts of the public school system, with the exception of a comparatively small number of private schools which have been created in certain communities. In addition, the work in America is characterized by a national college, which represents the completing mark in the system of their instruction. By this the education of the deaf is made not only to stand all along the way parallel with education in general, but also to assume a place accorded it in no other land.
In the schools one of the great features is the industrial instruction, and this is rightly emphasized. As much as the need of vocational training is insisted upon on all sides to-day, with the deaf it is essential to a greater degree than it can be anywhere else. The pupils of the schools who have had this industrial training as a rule do well in the world, and in many cases put their training to most practical account. It could be wished, however, that we had a careful and detailed record, uniform over the country, of the former pupils, which would be a test, demonstrative as well as suggestive, of the efficiency of the industrial training of the schools, and which would be equally of value in other spheres of industrial education.
Though in the work of the education of the deaf in America, industrial instruction occupies a very prominent part, yet in the schools there is an abundance of "schooling" in the strictest sense. The problems of the education of the deaf are peculiar, and their instructors have to face difficulties of a kind not found in any other lines of education. Yet earnest thought and study are being given to these problems, and efforts made to solve them as far as it is possible. In the conventions and conferences of instructors notable work has been accomplished, and these bodies are insistent upon progress and better results.
For the greater efficiency and success of the schools, the law as well as public sentiment can be called in aid. Deaf children everywhere should be prevailed upon or compelled to enter the schools, and should be required to remain as long as their best interests demand it. Education should be a matter, forced if need be, for every deaf child, for terrible as ignorance always is, in the deaf it is the most dreadful of all.
In America private assistance to schools for the deaf has not been great, and very few schools have been beneficiaries from resources other than the state's. To-day, with the exception of a few cases, aid from private means has ceased to be expected, and calls for such bounty are now seldom made.
At present nearly all the schools are public institutions, and rely entirely upon the care of the state. The state has in general recognized its duty towards the education of the deaf, and has engaged to provide for it. In half of the states this responsibility is recognized, and provision guaranteed in the organic law. In all the states the legislatures have undertaken to see that means of instruction are offered to all their deaf children, and it is found that, all things considered, the states have in general taken a keen interest in their educational welfare. Few schools can boast of overgenerous appropriations; many not infrequently have failed to receive all that has been asked for, and have thus often been prevented from doing their best work. Yet it may be said that if the legislatures have not always responded with alacrity, or always bounteously, or at all times with a full sense of their responsibility, they have responded at least with cheerfulness, and mindful of all the calls upon the state's treasury, and often according to the best of their light. It has been realized that the education of the deaf is an expensive undertaking, far more so than the education of ordinary children; but it is none the less realized also that this education pays—pays from every possible point of view.
That the school for the deaf is not given its full educational recognition is a grievance in some states, and this cannot be regarded otherwise than unfortunate. In time, however, this will most likely be changed, and the schools everywhere will come into their proper standing, and be considered only as the agencies of the state for the education of its children.
The most deplorable thing in the treatment of the schools by the state is that in some quarters politics with its baneful influence has been allowed to interfere. But as hideous and disgraceful as is this action, we may now believe that in most places its back has been broken, and that hereafter men everywhere will think better of themselves than to allow it in a single instance.
Finally, in respect to the work for the deaf in America as a whole, it may be said that the state makes but one form of provision in their behalf. This is in allowing to all its deaf children a means of education. Even this is hardly to be called "provision for the deaf." It is rather the attention that is paid to a certain portion of the population for its education. It is to be distinguished from the provision for general education only in that special means and methods are necessary for its accomplishment.
This being done, the state may practically let the deaf alone. No distinctive form of public treatment is usually to be called for in respect to them as a class. They demand little in the way of special care or oversight, they are able as a rule to look after themselves, asking few odds not asked by other men, they have become citizens without reservation or qualification, and economically they form no distinct class, but are absorbed into the industrial life of the state. They have assumed the responsibilities of life in a highly organized community, and in turn reap the benefits that belong to all men in such an order. But though this is true, their affliction bestowed upon them by the partial hand of nature, is not to be minimized, nor its effects lightened by any human words. Their deafness rests indeed upon them as a very material, tangible burden, so sharp and pointed in its operations that they are in great measure cut off socially from the rest of their kind. Because of this their concern becomes great in respect to the form of consideration from the community about them, and their need turns to one not so much of material character as of the attention of the good neighbor. From their condition all the more does it avail that no further load should be placed upon them, and that their prayer should be heard that they be treated fully as men. For even with their ever missing sense, the power of the deaf is only retarded, and not seriously diminished, to derive from life much of its richness and color and well-being.