Little Patricia Overcame Greater Handicaps
Than Helen Keller, But There Are
No Mother’s Arms in Which
To Cuddle as a Reward
.-luuTOf m Cflnifrft Stud\,
Made for This Magazine,
of Patricia Homans, 7
Year-Old Kentucky “Mi
racle Child,” Who Over
Greater Handicaps Than
World Famous Helen Keller;
Below, Blind Children En
joying the Gymnasium at Perkins
Institution, Where Patricia Is a
and Basketball, Using
in Almost All of the Track Sports.
Student. The Sightless Youths
Balls with Bells Inside, and They
*
>lls* lnla B. Hall. ^
shown A ho vp. '.. .*fe;V-^j
Taught the Blind- " S^HTy,
Oeaf-Mnte Patrt
eta Homans to ■^■*SKJ-.S3sws*iipB58Ksa^^^^^^*BRRn^®iil
Distinguish Be- .
tween Objects by Placing Spoons, Balls, Blocks, Etc., In the Child’s Hands One at
a Time as Many as 60 Times a Day While Repeating Their Names; and Now
Patricia Knows the Difference Between This Cat, Below, and Other Animals.
s. .:v
SCIENCE, In its miraculous experi
ment over 7-year-old Patricia Ho
mans, who presents a more diffi
cult case than Helen Keller and is
eves more am axing; than the Dionne
quintuplets, so far has claimed her
through its mercy for life.
But now these questions rise in the
midst of the combined struggle of sci
entific experiment and human kindness
at Perkins Institution for the Blind.
which is located at Watertown, Mass.:
Who, other than a state and an Insti
tution, cares for this astounding mite
of humanity? Is there to be no bond
of blood, no love, no reward for her
tremendous achievement, no sentimen
tal attachment in store for the most
remarkable child of today?
Patricia, born in Louisville, Ky., of
a 16-year-old mother from a poor fam
ily and a 17-year-old Princeton stu
S.G. Howe, “Mir
•.inr—ifiHTii" m
aent rawer, was turned
over to an institution as
a blanketed baby. There
was no other place for
the inffmt. Her parents
were divorced immediate
ly after her birth. Her
grandparents did not ac
cept any responsibility
whatever.
It was soon discovered
that while Patricia's body
was well formed, her skin
fair, her hair golden and
curly, she could not see,
hear or make a vocal
sound. The blind-deaf
mute even lacked sense
of taste! (Helen Keller
was not afflicted until she
was three.)
As little Patricia grew
as an ordinary child
would grow, she was rec
ognized by the medical
and scientific world as the
only person ever to sur
vive this quadruple handi
m r
Miss Hall Taught Patricia to Speak and Hear by Placing Her Tongue In
Position to Make the Fundamental Sounds, “oo,w “ar” and “ee," and Then
peating Words Over and Over, While the Child’s Sensitive Fingers Distinguished
Their Sound Through the Vibrations of Miss Hall’s Voice. No Sign Language or
Spelling in the Palms of Her Hands Was Used, as in the Case of Helen Keller,
cap so long in an apparently lucid
state. Now, 4s a result of the scientific
magic of Perkins Institution to which
she was taken two years ago, she
knows IS commands, can feed' and
dress herself, can climb and descend
stairs. She can harmonize on elemen
tary musical Instruments. She has a
sense of protection, where once she
was insensitive enough to go about
colliding with objects. She has ac
quired the first three elements in
speech. She distinguishes scores of ob
jects and can let her wants be known.
Perkins Institution began to reclaim
nature’s human mistakes over 100
years ago. It was there in the eighties
that Laura Bridgman was taught to
"see" and hear by Dr. Samuel Gridley
Howe (husband of Julia Ward Howe
of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
fame) and where later Helen Keller,
through the sign language, palm alpha
bet and Braille methods developed by
Dr. Howe with Laura, grasped a soul
from th# dark silence.
Dr. Gabriel Farrell, present Perkins’
director, over great opposition from
other authorities and against the cau
tion of Helen Keller, believed that a
new system of reaching into the dark,
expressionless corridors of the mind
could be successful and quicker than
the laborious methods used with Laura
and Helen. Hearing, he decided, could
be accomplished through bone conduc
tion; voice, words, could be given
through tongue placement.
Patricia was taught to "hear”
through the bones of her head; to
make sounds by having her tongue
placed and by being taught to feel mo
Perkins Institution lor the Blind, at Watertown, Mass., Where the Great
Scientific Experiments of . . .
Copyright, 1986, King Features Syndicate, Inc
tions of other lips; to “see” by an in
tensity of touch and developed sensi
tivity to vibration.
* “The experiments were at first a
matter of hope—but now, with the
progress of Patricia, they are a mat
ter of fact,” he says. %
"During this past season when little
Patriciarwas ill and we had to give
her four lumbar punctures apd saw
her lie unconscious for long intervals,
ia that no member of her family haa
shown interest in her progress, and no
sentiment has be^n promised for her
future.
“We believe both her parents are
living and should be proud of this
child. We have communicated with
her grandfather. But whether the child
lives or dies apparently raises no re
sponse in the hearts of those who are
bonded to her through blood.”
wc nuuucicu ii| <uici on,
our experiments in treat
ing and teaching, in fore- I
ing a mind, would last
through her illness.
"But we found that in
her recovery she retained
all the commands. Even
in her weakened physical
condition she could walk;
she remembered her les
sons in balance and
through bone conduction
she heard, therefore re
sponded to footsteps of
her companions.
"While she presents the
most extraordinary case
on the records of the
American Foundation for
the Blind, Patricia also
has been the means of
proving the greatest ex
periments known to the
medical and scientific
world. ’
"But our greatest con
cern now about Patricia
v. . Rev. Gabriel
Farrell, Above.
Are Having
Amazing Results
mm