DEAFNESS.
[To Tat EDITOR OP TED n SPECTITOR."] Sia,—Thank you for giving space to the discussion on this subject. As a man not yet thirty, who has not been deaf many years. I can say from experience that it is a somewhat severe trial. How- ever, in my case education on normal lines was possible, and when I became deaf the change of occupation did not hit me on hardly as it would have done had I been older. Many of our annoyances arise from the fact that deafness does not show, and we are apt to try to conceal it—with results that are sometimes ridiculous. Hearing people are certainly thoughtless. If they knew how annoying head-noises are, they would be more con- siderate. Strangers always seem to pick out the deaf man when they want directions. However, we have compensatMns. I am told that as a husband I should be spared much that my hearing friends endure. But it seems to me- that deafness would knock all the romance from an engagement, and that the ceremony on "the day" would be a real trial by ordeal. The simpler and healthier forms of exercise and recreation are still ours. Moreover, I think we have a great longing to know oar fellow- creatures, and I certainly believe that our characters are im- proved. Concentration of thought is easier than before. Sleep is sounder. I may say I find lip-reading a fascinating study. It has its limitations, but it is possible in a few- months to find it of great help in direct conversation with some people, though not with all. The fad 1B; we partially deaf people want friendship with our own kind, where we could be on terms of equality. The congenitally deaf are thrown together, and from the little I have seen of them, they seem cheerful enough. Their problem is not quite ours, and their mode of thought must be different in some respects. It is worthy of note that one sees vary little mention of the deafened soldiers, whose plight is nearly as bad as that of the blinded ones, as far as choice of occupation is concerned. We need an organization, and a magazine, some means of self- expression to rid ourselves of that "bottled-up" feeling. Mean- while the Spectator has coma to the rescue.—! am, Si!. Sc.,
LANCS.
[A magazine already exists—The Deaf Quarterly News. Pub- lished by the Liverpool Deaf and Dumb Society, Princes Avenue,
Liverpool. Our correspondent should communicate with Mr. S. Oxley (75 Victoria Road, Kensington, W. 8), whose letter appeared in the Spectator of December 86.—En. Spectator.)
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