The Story of My Life
On our way back to the house everything she touched had to be named for
her, and repetition was seldom necessary. Neither the length of the
word nor the combination of letters seems to make any difference to the
child. Indeed, she remembers HELIOTROPE and CHRYSANTHEMUM more readily
than she does shorter names. At the end of August she knew 625 words.
This lesson was followed by 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 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 her 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 those signs. Then her attention was
called to the hardness of the one ball and the softness of the other,
and she learned SOFT and HARD. A few minutes afterward 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.
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 the
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. 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; but she would sit for hours feeling each word in her book.
When she touched one with which she was familiar, a peculiarly sweet
expression lighted 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 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 her.
Day after day she moved her pencil in the same tracks along the grooved
paper, never for a moment expressing the least impatience or sense of
fatigue.
As she had now learned to express her ideas on paper, I next taught her
the braille system. She learned it gladly when she discovered that she
could herself read what she had written; and this still affords her
constant pleasure. For a whole evening she will sit at the table writing
whatever comes into her busy brain; and I seldom find any difficulty in
reading what she has written.
Her progress in arithmetic has been equally remarkable. She can add and
subtract with great rapidity up to the sum of one hundred; and she knows
the multiplication tables as far as the FIVES. She was working recently
with the number forty, when I said to her, "Make twos." She replied
immediately, "Twenty twos make forty." Later I said, "Make fifteen
threes and count." I wished her to make the groups of threes and
supposed she would then have to count them in order to know what
number fifteen threes would make. But instantly she spelled the answer:
"Fifteen threes make forty-five."
On being told that she was white and that one of the servants was black,
she concluded that all who occupied a similar menial position were of
the same hue; and whenever I asked her the colour of a servant she would
say "black." When asked the colour of some one whose occupation she did
not know she seemed bewildered, and finally said "blue."
She has never been told anything about death or the burial of the body,
and yet on entering the cemetery for the first time in her life, with
her mother and me, to look at some flowers, she laid her hand on our
eyes and repeatedly spelled "cry--cry." Her eyes actually filled with
tears. The flowers did not seem to give her pleasure, and she was very
quiet while we stayed there.
On another occasion while walking with me she seemed conscious of the
presence of her brother, although we were distant from him. She spelled
his name repeatedly and started in the direction in which he was coming.
When walking or riding she often gives the names of the people we meet
almost as soon as we recognize them.
The letters take up the account again.
November 13, 1887.
We took Helen to the circus, and had "the time of our lives"! The circus
people were much interested in Helen, and did everything they could to
make her first circus a memorable event. They let her feel the animals
whenever it was safe. She fed the elephants, and was allowed to climb
up on the back of the largest, and sit in the lap of the "Oriental
Princess," while the elephant marched majestically around the ring. She
felt some young lions. They were as gentle as kittens; but I told her
they would get wild and fierce as they grew older. She said to the
keeper, "I will take the baby lions home and teach them to be mild." The
keeper of the bears made one big black fellow stand on his hind legs
and hold out his great paw to us, which Helen shook politely. She
was greatly delighted with the monkeys and kept her hand on the star
performer while he went through his tricks, and laughed heartily when
he took off his hat to the audience. One cute little fellow stole her
hair-ribbon, and another tried to snatch the flowers out of her hat. I
don't know who had the best time, the monkeys, Helen or the spectators.
One of the leopards licked her hands, and the man in charge of the
giraffes lifted her up in his arms so that she could feel their ears
and see how tall they were. She also felt a Greek chariot, and the
charioteer would have liked to take her round the ring; but she was
afraid of "many swift horses." The riders and clowns and rope-walkers
were all glad to let the little blind girl feel their costumes and
follow their motions whenever it was possible, and she kissed them all,
to show her gratitude. Some of them cried, and the wild man of Borneo
shrank from her sweet little face in terror. She has talked about
nothing but the circus ever since. In order to answer her questions, I
have been obliged to read a great deal about animals. At present I feel
like a jungle on wheels!
December 12, 1887.
I find it hard to realize that Christmas is almost here, in spite of the
fact that Helen talks about nothing else. Do you remember what a happy
time we had last Christmas?
Helen has learned to tell the time at last, and her father is going to
give her a watch for Christmas.
Helen is as eager to have stories told her as any hearing child I ever
knew. She has made me repeat the story of little Red Riding Hood so
often that I believe I could say it backward. She likes stories that
make her cry--I think we all do, it's so nice to feel sad when you've
nothing particular to be sad about. I am teaching her little rhymes and
verses, too. They fix beautiful thoughts in her memory. I think, too,
that they quicken all the child's faculties, because they stimulate
the imagination. Of course I don't try to explain everything. If I
did, there would be no opportunity for the play of fancy. TOO MUCH
EXPLANATION DIRECTS THE CHILD'S ATTENTION TO WORDS AND SENTENCES, SO
THAT HE FAILS TO GET THE THOUGHT AS A WHOLE. I do not think anyone can
read, or talk for that matter, until he forgets words and sentences in
the technical sense.
January 1, 1888.
It is a great thing to feel that you are of some use in the world,
that you are necessary to somebody. Helen's dependence on me for almost
everything makes me strong and glad.
Christmas week was a very busy one here, too. Helen is invited to all
the children's entertainments, and I take her to as many as I can.
I want her to know children and to be with them as much as possible.
Several little girls have learned to spell on their fingers and are very
proud of the accomplishment. One little chap, about seven, was persuaded
to learn the letters, and he spelled his name for Helen. She was
delighted, and showed her joy, by hugging and kissing him, much to his
embarrassment.
Saturday the school-children had their tree, and I took Helen. It was
the first Christmas tree she had ever seen, and she was puzzled, and
asked many questions. "Who made tree grow in house? Why? Who put many
things on tree?" She objected to its miscellaneous fruits and began to
remove them, evidently thinking they were all meant for her. It was not
difficult, however, to make her understand that there was a present for
each child, and to her great delight she was permitted to hand the gifts
to the children. There were several presents for herself. She placed
them in a chair, resisting all temptation to look at them until every
child had received his gifts. One little girl had fewer presents than
the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts with her. It was very
sweet to see the children's eager interest in Helen, and their readiness
to give her pleasure. The exercises began at nine, and it was one
o'clock before we could leave. My fingers and head ached; but Helen was
as fresh and full of spirit as when we left home.
After dinner it began to snow, and we had a good frolic and an
interesting lesson about the snow. Sunday morning the ground was
covered, and Helen and the cook's children and I played snowball. By
noon the snow was all gone. It was the first snow I had seen here, and
it made me a little homesick. The Christmas season has furnished many
lessons, and added scores of new words to Helen's vocabulary.