Some Rambling Experiences in the Training of Low-Grade Defectives
- Author:
Margaret Macdowall
- Reference-type:
Journal Article
- Year:
1920
- Title:
Some Rambling Experiences in the Training of Low-Grade Defectives
- Journal:
Studies in mental inefficiency
- Volume:
1
- Issue:
3
- Pages:
55-60
- Date-of-publication:
1920/07//
- Short-title:
Some Rambling Experiences in the Training of Low-Grade Defectives
- Alternate-journal:
Stud Ment Ineffic
- Accession-number:
28909948
- Name-of-database:
PubMed
- Language:
eng
A true man wants to move the world if he can; he is not satisfied with taking a stone out of the way if he can lift the earth itself to a loftier level.” pierson Thinking for a moment of education as a whole, I consider we teachers of these little ones hold an exceedingly responsible and important position therein. We are, as it were, dealing with the foundation of the building, the source of the river, the very ends of the roots of the tree. In each case the whole depends on its beginning.
There is an old saying: “Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.’’ Every farthing we save helps the nation by some means. How much more, then, shall we help by our efforts, by giving ourselves, soul, mind and ‘body to raising these children from labour-taking inefficients to laboursaving self-helpful citizens; even if it takes two to carry water or hew wood, they set a more able person free for more effective work.
Mercier says “Education is a preparation for life, to fit the child for life when he is no longer a child.” I ask everyone to consider well the needs of this section of humanity, and their absolute right to have the best preparation possible, so that their maturity may be borne with dignity and happiness, instead of being objects of disgust and too often unwilling, inefficient service. I do not believe that any human being need be merely the subject of pity and’ forced attention, except through his own fault. If all that are helpless, in body and in mind, could be recognised as given to increase our knowledge, each medium would be respected as suffering either actively or passively for the common good.
We are seeking digestible food for the minds and bodies of those who have no desire to express themselves, either physically or mentally; or who desire so much that there is a constant overflow of energy?disorder reigns, and nothing is expressed. The process reminds me of Southey’s “Waters of Lodore” : ?
“And dinning and spinning,
and foaming and roaming,
and dropping and hopping,
and working and jerking,
and guggling and struggling,” etc.
When such a case is given us for education, we know he has not paused long enough to register his impressions. He can often run aimlessly about, and as a rule his desire is to destroy, and to throw everything away. He is possessed by active negativism; the fact that he is desired to go in one direction would make him wish to go in another. Dr. H. C. Cameron’s book, ” The Nervous Child,” teaches us much about negativism and how to overcome it. All our efforts must be in suggesting quietness. I have been successful with some children by training them to rest; giving gentle, soothing movements so long as they offer 110 resistance, changing the second it appears, as resistance is the thing we are trying to wear out.
We must bear in mind that this little mind is always in a tumult, and that tumult loves tumult. He cannot resist trying to stir us to irritability. The longer we refrain, the morci hopeful the process. When the child realises we arc not to be moved to tears or their like, but only to laughter, he will give up his active resistance, and consent to be. guided.
The early history of these restless cases is an unhappy infancy, sleeplessness, constant crying, and generally there hias been great difficulty in getting a food to agree with and nourish them. I believe that if unnaturally restless babies were taken in hand from birth, and iwere kept quiet, with no change of nurse or scene, much suffering might be saved.
Children of the opposite character are spoken of as such good babies. They seldom cry; they have lacked the needful nourishment to awaken desire, and make practically 110 observations in babyhood. They therefore remain a bundle of potentialities only, until it is realised that there is something wrong. Fifty years ago such children often grew to manhood and womanhood without getting greatly further than they were at birth. In these days the trouble is noticed during the first year, and efforts made to rectify it when the child is four or five years old.
I find very helpful Sir Clifford Allbutt’s words: ” The child tosses not his limbs in meaningless effervescence. He unwittingly weaves mansions in his brain.” Our part is to help him to build his mansions, to create in him the desire to know, to possess, and later to express.
It is probably difficult for people to get a clear idea of a child who never moves by his own will, who loves best to be carried everywhere, who would be greatly more inert than an infant of four weeks old; who will sit before food within reach and make no effort to take it, though the act is within his power. We begin by putting such a child on his back on a table, and tossing his limbs for him, singing and talking, making his exercise as attractive as possible; getting him to sit up and lie down; stiffening the muscles as he is able to bear it; trying to give the natural movements of an infant; strengthening every part of the body in readiness for balance later on. We use a little chair with wheels and a stick through the arms, so that the child is quite safe. The chair must be just the right height for the feet to be comfortably on the floor. Then we kneel on the floor and go backwards, taking his feet in our hands, and teach him to step rhythmically. By and by we feel that he is moving by his own will. We then put attractive things about the room, and in time he goes because he wants to, and the foundation of the mansion is begun ! Balance and self-guidance are not far away.
Movement in this case is our watchword ill opposition, to Rest for the restless cases. We must get it in every possible form, making it attractive enough to move the little one to laughter, and to desire more. It is well to bear in mind that we must never persist in movement that a child resists, or we defeat our end by developing the muscles we are not dealing with.
One of our chief temptations is to guide and help too much these children who have no desire to express, and also children who are paralysed or physically defective from any cause. It is not inspiring for us to think that because they are helpless we must not expect them to overcomet that we will lead and guide them through life, giving them bodily aid. We must exercise self-control, and help them with our minds only, and train the children to depend on themselves, each moment letting thjem do every mite they are capable of by their own will J feeling each day has been ill-spent if we have not added something to their power. It is much harder work to stand at the foot of a staircase, fixing our attention on a child going up alonq, than to lead or carry him up, but to the child s future it makes all the difference in the world :
- “Love has two elements; the elements of severance, which is only an appearance, and the element of union, which is the ultimate truth. Just as when the father tosses his child up from his arms it has the appearance of rejection, but its truth is quite the reverse.”
— Tagore.
I have spent much time and thought upon the best way of gaining the interest and attention of a class of children in these first stages. I have come to the conclusion it is by touch. We comfort infants always by touch, and these little ones need the same treatment.
We must imagine five or six little ones who have not great interest in their surroundings or in each other; I find that a handshake all round stirs them, as they look for their turn, and watch the process. The temperament of each child needs consideration, and the shake must be done in a manner likely to attract the individuality of each member. Sometimes getting them all to hold a bright hoop together is successful. Some action in unison is the best thing. The greater difficulty is to know what to say. So few children in their beginnings understand the meaning of words?with the exception of nouns. If we say “Fetch me a book,” or ” Put it on the table,” ” floor ” or ” chair,” the command will probably be obeyed quite quickly because the nouns are familiar to the children. If the same commands were given in connection with unknown nouns they would not be understood. When the children are given beads to thread it is possible for some to make good progress by imitation of action alone. Those who are unable to imitate make none, as they are dependent on the understanding of words. We have found it well to have a set of apparatus to help us to teach definitely the meaning of words it is necessary to understand before a simple action can be executed with the knowledge that makes it a step to progress. We begin with the words ” up,” ” down,” ” ori,” ” off “; the little posts and rings* are very attractive to babies. When a very simple putting on or off can be done we spread our expressions by doing it in as great a variety of ways as we can think of. The stand and balls form a starting point for the words ” in, out, under, over, through “; then we put chocolate into the mouths as an example of things we must not take out! Pockets are a help, and letting the children climb under and over a table makes a good active illustration of the words.
Our aim should be to give our children as far as we can what normal infants take for themselves, and gain power because they want it. We must stir them to desire by our own activity, and make up to them for their dormant years of babyhood.
Before passing on to Stage 2 I want to say that it is impossible to exaggerate the importance and value of training these children into regular habits of cleanliness. If we are able to give self-control in this respect during the first educational period, it means so much to the child throughout life that it is worthy of our best intelligence to plan methods for overcoming weakness, and bringing the organs of excretion under the control of the child’s will. It can be done, but it depends on the will of the guardian; it is uphill all the way until the habit is formed.
We now come to a stage higher. It is probable that the powers and experience of our pupils may be limited through life. We must therefore bring them
into touch with the limitless as early as possible; we must give them the most powerful ideals in the world, and teach them to know, love, and serve God through Jesus Christ, remembering that in the words of Bishop Creightoi^, ” All true education consists in the laying of one soul by the side of another soul.” I have quoted these words before; I hope I may again and again. It is difficult to lay our own souls by the side of the souls we are dealing with. They are reserved, closed, as it were, and it takes time to get them to expand enough to open even a little way?but however difficult, however long, it is worth while over and over again.
I have in my mind three Mongol boys and one girl between six and nine years old. They could not walk alone, speak or feed themselves, land had not even a measure of self-control at the beginning of their training. They are now correct in their habits, all feed themselves with spoon and fork, and are learning to use a knife; they have been through their preliminary stages; can put on and take off their clothes, and are progressing with the much more difficult buttoning, lacing, and hooking; they know their letters, most ordinary common objects by name, and pictures of animals; they can obey commands, and have a fine social spirit?they don’t like to be left out of anything. They have got beyond the stage of separate actions, e.g., bead-threading, and have sustained attention enough to go on with work unaided, e.g., sewing on cards or canvas. Their speech is limited to names of people, animals, and objects, but they
See also
See my book on the subject: Simple Beginnings.
realise that ” me ” means themiselves, and also can use ‘ yes and no correctly. We are striving for language, but the desite to express much in words is not developed. We are teaching the uses of all common things trying to get abstract ideas in connection with pictures of people and things they know, and they are beginning to read. One member of the little class learns at sight easily and his memory is good, exceptionally so for his type and grade. His understanding of the words is hardly so great as the more silent members, who must have some hooks to hang their words on before they can remember them. We have the making of the hooks as we teach; the storehouse of connections is nearly empty; impressions have not been registered, so that each new thing we attempt to teach has to be done with the concrete wall before us. Names like ‘ cat ‘ and ‘ boy ‘ are learned with pleasure and remembered, but words that we cannot give a concrete example of are much more difficult. We are taking the as a word that goes before, a pointer?’ and ‘ as a joining word; we have large coloured separate words, we put ‘ and ‘ between two pictures or a toy oat and dog, and let two children each hold a corner, and stand in line; the word the is put first, thus to the children a living sentence is formed : ? ” The cat and dog and the boy and girl.”
We pass on to the children who can wash and dress themselves, use knives snd forks, read and write, amd do a little adding and subtracting; they can drill and dance very fairly ; most of them ask and answer questions in varying degrees of intelligence. We must steadfastly turn our thoughts to the preparation for life when childhood is past, and though it is our duty to live in an atmosphere of hope, judicious selection must be our guide in our choice of subjects. It is important that children should express themselves in words; we therefore give time to spelling and composition, and let good handwriting follow when self-expression, however simple, is mastered. Many people will disagree with this I am sure, but if the children are to speak intelligently they must be taught to form thair sentences and write them down. It is quite impossible to choose a method of teaching reading, as each child in a small class may need a different one.
Reading books should be chosen with a view to helping the children’s knowledge ?f things they come in contact with in everyday life. In teaching number, the chief aim should be to enable the children to understand money, to give and take change. Time-telling is very important; abnormal children do not realise how long it takes to do things, and do not acquire a real knowledge of the passing of time, unless their attention is constantly directed to it. This is to be accounted for by their lack of responsibility as time-keepers, which might be made more a point of with advantage. The days of the week, and date of the month, and the year should be kept present with the children; it helps progress. Any movement should be made the most of, and dates do not stand still.
We have thought of purposes, and have spoken of teaching children how to act so as to achieve them. Mercier says: ” Children are to te taught to know, but they must first he taught to do, and it is in doing that knowledge is most naturally, most easily, and most tenaciously acquired.” He quotes a letter of Sir Clifford Allbutt, who says, ” That in action there is a certain pregnancy, that by action is developed inward rudiments, which left unprovoked would die unborn, that the limbs in their adventures have a wider compass, awaken wider responses, lay up in the nervous system, and bring into gear, much beyond the design of their immediate purpose.”
Let me give an example of a child who has been trained to act, and one who has always been acted for. I was watching two typical low-grade Mongols, one twelve, just come to school, the other six, in training from three years old. The elder child has the greater mental power. The six year old took his twelve year old companion by the hand, dragged him as far as the staircase, placed his hand on the bannister, then went behind him and gave him a push with both hands; feeling his responsibility at end, he took himself to another staircase and ran up. The elder child was quite unresisting, and stood where he was placed, until told to move.
Reconstruction is much in the thought of everyone at present, and the welfare of the feeble-minded is not left out. I hope the day is not far distant when a more natural, fuller, freer life will be given them; when people who are true to the normal will think it a pleasure and privilege to mix with them and help to draw out and to heal. Perhaps a variety of recreation is needed more than anything else, as there is nothing so quickening as the lightning of laughter.”
Bibliography
Macdowall M. Some Rambling Experiences in the Training of Low-Grade Defectives. Stud Ment Ineffic. 1920;1(3):55-60.
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