she appreciated the ideas given to
her in that way.

"It is interesting to note that before any attempt had been made to
teach the child to speak or there had been any thought of it, her own
quickness of thought had suggested it to her as she talked by hand
alphabet to Miss Fuller. Her mother, however, did not approve Miss
Fuller's suggestion that an attempt should be made to teach her speech.
She remained at the Perkins School, under Miss Sullivan's charge,
another year, when the matter was brought up again, this time by little
Helen herself, who said she must speak. Miss Sullivan brought her to
Miss Fuller's school one day and she received her first lesson, of
about two hours' length.

"The child's hand was first passed over Miss Fuller's face, mouth, and
neck, then into her mouth, touching the tongue, teeth, lips, and hard
palate, to give her an idea of the organs of speech. Miss Fuller then
arranged her mouth, tongue, and teeth for the sound of i as in it. She
took the child's finger and placed it upon the windpipe so that she
might feel the vibration there, put her finger between her teeth to
show her how wide apart they were, and one finger in the mouth to feel
the tongue, and then sounded the vowel. The child grasped the idea at
once. Her fingers flew to her own mouth and throat, and she produced
the sound so nearly accurate that it sounded like an echo. Next the
sound of ah was made by dropping the jaw a little and letting the child
feel that the tongue was soft and lying in the bed of the jaw with the
teeth more widely separated. She in the same way arranged her own, but
was not so successful as at first, but soon produced the sound
perfectly."

"Eleven such lessons were given, at intervals of three or four days,
until she had acquired all the elements of speech, Miss Sullivan in the
meantime practicing with the child on the lessons received. The first
word spoken was arm, which was at once associated with her arm; this
gave her great delight. She soon learned to pronounce words by herself,
combining the elements she had learned, and used them to communicate
her simple wants. The first connected language she used was a
description she gave Miss Fuller of a visit she had made to Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes, in all over 200 words. They were, all but two or three,
pronounced correctly. She now, six years afterward, converses quite
fluently with people who know nothing of the manual alphabet by placing
a couple