ABNORMAL CHILDREN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 28, 17 February 1937, Page 13

ABNORMAL CHILDREN

The Physchology of Education HASTINGS LECTURE The discoveries of Dr. Grace Fernaid, Los Angeles psychologist, in an investiga,tion or*aunormal children, were dealt with by a speaker at a meeting of pke Theosophical Society on Sunday. Requested by a publio school supervisor to certify as feeble-minded a boy of eleven, Dr. Fernaid found that, although ihe boy could iiot learn to read, be showed average intelligence in tests that did not involve reading|. The boy could noo remember written words even after having been shown them several times. After three months-of fruitless effort Dr. Fernaid accidentally found that the boy could remember a word which he had traced with his flngers and discovered that every word traced as a whole could be remembered. After flve montbs of; bqilding up his vocabulary by this method Dr. Fernaid invited the boy'g former teachers to hear their "feebleminded failure" read, and they were astounded at the result. The boy returned to his old school and made rapid progresa. It was stressed that the number of children unable to learn to read was very amall, but "very poor" readera were oBtimated to be at least one fourth of all pupils. "Such children, cragically, are usually considered defective. But instead they merely get their learning in a different way — technically the kinathetio way ! Instead of learning through the eyes and ears, they learn through their muscles and nerves. They learn by doing and feeling, with all their bodily eenses," said tho speaker. A majority of zero readers were lefir handed. It wasi generally accepted that the left side of the brain controlled the rigjht side of the body and vice versa. "There is a speed oemtre developed in the brain on the left side ln right-hand-ed people, and not until recent years has it been conclusiveay proved that wo had two such centres,"- the speaker stated. "A man who, after several hours of daily etudy with the aid of a teacher, had great difficulty in learm ing Spanisb. He was about to abandon his efforts when a friend advised him fco try writing the language with the left hand. In one month he attained fluency in a languago whieli before had baffled him. Left-handed children should never bj forced to use the right hand, but should be encouraged to do so in order to balance the body and make it more efficient. It is also desirable for right* handed children to learn to use the left hand as well," she concluded.