The Deaf

A table headed The Deaf According to Age of Occurrence of Deafness shows the percentages of those who became deaf at different ages. According to the returns of the census, more than ninety per cent (90.6) became deaf before the twentieth year, and over a third (35.5 per cent) were born deaf.

A section called Ability of the Deaf to Speak says that with the majority of the deaf phonetic speech is not employed to any large extent, but that a fair number can, and do, use vocal language. Departments both for the deaf and the blind are found in ten states, among them California and Colorado, and the text says that having the deaf and the blind together in one school has been regarded as unfortunate, with educators of both classes protesting against it. The text says that the state may practically let the deaf alone, that as a rule they are able to look after themselves, asking few odds not asked by other men, and that economically they form no distinct class.