Book Description

Excerpt from Bulletin of Iowa Institutions, Vol. 7: April, 1905 By G. L. Smead, Superintendent Ohio State School for the Blind. In Ohio, and, I presume in other states, we have to contend against the asylum idea. Our school has been called the Blind Asylum from the beginning, and at the present day this name is oftenest upon the lips of the public. This may be partly due to our American tendency to give the shortest name to everything, and then push on to our pleasure or business. We have hardly time to call anything by its full name. We designate thousands of miles of rail road by a few initials. The Ohio State University is O. S. U. A laboratory is a Lab. A gymnasium is a Gym. The young ladies in our cc-educational schools are called co-eds. In one State University the young ladies' waiting room is the Gab Room. A bicycle is a Bike. And the sacred name of Christmas is cut short into Xmas. What wonder than, if in our push and hurry, some should give as short a name as possible to institutions for the edu cation oi the Blind and call them asylums with the A sometimes left 011. But the use of the term asylum in some sections of our State, at least, signifies an ignorance of the true\purpose of our schools for the blind. I have had many contentions with friends of imbecile children for their admission to our school. Even members of the Legislature have urged the admission of such children. A long petition of citizens of one of our counties was once presented to me for the same purpose, and that too after the child had been repeatedly rejected. We have applications from paralytics and epileptics and from those too old to go to school. And, what are your terms for the admission of patients? Is a question sometimes asked, as though the school was a hospital. The Board of State Charities counts us as proper members of the Association of Charities and Corrections, and we, as officers, are appointed delegates to the State and National Conventions of that body. And in our code of laws we have been classed as benevolent institutions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.