Deafness in Children

In old times deaf people were considered mentally incompetent and lacked the civil rights of hearing persons. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church often expressed the opinion that they could not be saved!

This attitude persisted until the 16th century, when it was realized that deaf persons could be educated. Among the pioneers were Girolamo Cardamo (1501-1576), in Italy,  Father Pedro Ponce de Leon (1520-1584) and Pablo Bonet (1573-1633), in Spain, and George Dalgarno (1626-1787) in England. Many deaf children were educated, but this was done privately, in small groups. Schools for the deaf did not exist. 

Abbot Charles Michel de l’Épée (1712-1789) founded, in 1775, the first school for deaf children in Paris. Samuel Heinicke (1727-1790) founded, in 1777, the first German school for deaf children, in Leipzig – this school still exists.

L’Épée and Heinicke used different methods, that persist to the present days; l’Épée preferred sign language, Heinicke was in favor of oral communication.

My first contact with deaf children occurred in Saint Louis, at the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID).

The CID school, founded in 1914

CID was founded in 1914 by Dr. Max Goldstein, professor of Otolaryngology at Washington University in Saint Louis. He was born in Saint Louis and there he graduated in Medicine. In 1893 he went to Vienna to work with Dr. Adam Politzer, a celebrated otolaryngologist.

During his stay in Vienna Dr. Goldstein became fascinated with the oral education of deaf children, under Prof. Victor Urbantschitsch. This was something he had never seen, in the United States all of the schools taught sign language.

On his return to the United States, Dr. Goldstein tried, in vain, to convince educators of deaf children to use the oral method. They systematically refused. He decided, then, to build his own school. In 1932, in addition to the school, CID built a Research Center, where I had the privilege of studying with Professors Hallowell Davis, Richard Silverman, Ira Hirsh, Donald Eldredge, Carl Sherrick, and so many others.

My contact with oral education for deaf children certainly had a lot to do with my interest in cochlear implants since the early beginning.

The deaf community in the United States – and to a certain extent also here in Brazil – seems to favor sign language. They feel that deaf children seldom reach a complete vocabulary, so they stay at the margin of the social group. On the other hand, very few non-deaf people can use sign language and that creates an intense social barrier. Oral education gives the deaf persons more opportunities in life, in terms of professions and social integration.

Cochlear implants have contributed enormously to improve the quality of the education of deaf children, and therefore implanted persons now integrate completely in the hearing world.

But I have seen many deaf persons that were very well educated without using cochlear implants. And I have implanted children that have not received the education that they needed. It all has to do with motivation. Of the children and, most importantly, of their families.

I recently received a letter from the mother of a deaf girl that I have seen 26 years ago. I was very moved by this letter. I asked her permission to share her letter with you. I translated it as carefully as possible. Here it is: 


Dear Dr. Pedro Luiz Mangabeira Albernaz, 

You do not know me, you certaily do not remember me, but the effects of your convictions have been a part of my life for twenty-six years, and I would like to formally thank you for having illuminated the lives of all of my family and shown us new ways to construct a reality that seemed impossible.

In 1987 my husband and I heard from a physician that our eldest daughter, who was at that time two years old, pretty and bright, was deaf. And that we should have many expectations, because she would not be able to speak and her development would be difficult.

We were terrified with that diagnosis, enunciated so indifferently. We returned to our otolaryngologist in search of better news.  Dr. Aguinaldo Jurema, in Recife – a long time friend of our family, treated us well and made a recommendation that we should contact a friend of his that had just returned from the United States, Dr. Pedro Luiz Mangabeira Albernaz. “Go to São Paulo, take her to Pedro. He is the best and he will know what to do,” said Dr. Aguinaldo. And that we did.

We were still feeling badly when we arrived in São Paulo. We were very young, we could not undestand what was happening. I remember the consultation in detail, I remember Dr. Brasília, the examinations that were performed, your elegance. At the end, after observing our daughter for a few minutes, you told us: “We have now completed the examination of your daughter and you already have the orientation to fit her with hearing aids. I must add one thing: this child’s future, whether she will have to make a living doing handicrafts or will become a professional woman able to take care of her own life, will depend on the education that you give her. Go home now, think and decide what you want for her future.”

So many years have passed and the memory of this day still brings me emotions. The young girl of those days is now a beautiful 28 years-old young woman. If someone felt that she would never hear, he was totally mistaken. Technology makes it possible for her to listen to birds singing and to the sound of the rain. To those who felt that she would never speak we say that, besides our mother tongue, she is fluent in English and speaks a little French and German. For those who believed that would not reach a complete development we inform that she graduated in Business Administration and completed a course in UK Study (a British school specialized in English for business) and works as Junior Analist in a Norwich naval construction multinational company. 

Dr. Pedro, the future of our little daughter is exactly what she desired. But before it became a reality in our lives it was present in your words, in your expression when you looked at us. Dr. Aguinaldo was right, at that time you already knew these things!

This is the reason that I am writing you, and also the reason why I repeat your name and your words in every audiology, speech pathology, educational psychology and occupational therapy classes that I lecture. Through these years I also graduated in audiology and speech pathology, educational psychology and obtained a Master’s degree in linguistics. And no one will dare to tell me that a child cannot learn oral language and be included in a normal world.

Finally, Dr. Pedro, I just wanted to thank you and tell you that your words helped in making all this happen. We do not know our future and we still have dreams that we hope will come through. But up to now our journey made us stronger and more lucid. We learned to doubt all determinism and found that labels are made to be torn and overcome.

Marina in 1987

The images show Marina at age 2, during the days that we spent in São Paulo, and our family at present; we were also blessed with an attractive and intelligent son that holds great promises for his future.

The Takemoto Family

I know that you must have participated in the lives of hundreds of persons, and possibly have not heard from them. I do not intend to be arrogant, but I want to thank you, in the name of all of the families that you helped, for the good that you imparted on us.

May God be generous to you and may your days be filled with light and peace!

Affectionately,

Cristiane de Moura Leite Takemoto.


Cristiane, your words meant a lot to me. I am very happy for you and for Marina, and for your husband and son. And also your parents, who helped you so much. You are a fantastic family, I do not know if you have any idea of how much your letter touched my heart. I did not do much, I just expressed my feelings, which are the same that I have today. I must have said similar words to many, many parents of children with hearing problems. The big thing is that you believed me. And that you loved your daughter very much. She needed more help than other children usually need, but your rewards were also greater.

My very best regards and my love to all of you.