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Brian Lee: Schools for deaf children had a long history in city - Columnists - News - WalesOnline
I DIDN’T know until reading Cedric Moon’s A Tale of Three Deaf Schools in South Wales that there used to be a school for deaf-and-blind children in Wood Street.
Known as the Cardiff Oral School, it stood adjacent to St Dyfrig’s Church and was there from 1894 to 1898. A Miss S A Gibson, of 45 Clare Road, Cardiff, was appointed as a “teacher of deaf- and-dumb children at a salary of £70 a year”. However, she resigned after a year and was replaced by Emma Young, one of three applicants, at a salary of £100 a year.
It was later recorded that “deaf children to be transferred from Wood Street School to rooms used by the blind children at Adamsdown”, and the blind children transferred to another school.
Other Cardiff Deaf school locations were Fitzalan Place 1898-1907, Howard Gardens 1907-1941, Llandaff School 1941-1943 and Jackson Hall in Westgate Street 1943-1950.
One person who was sent to Howard Gardens was Desmond Smith who was born in 1932 into a family of six sisters and three brothers. He became deaf when aged two after a fall down the stairs at home. He remembers that he spent a great deal of time speech training with the then new audio equipment and headphones.
Another Howard Gardens pupil David Hallewell, who was born deaf in 1930, remembers that the teachers were very strict oralists with much speech training involved. Signing was strictly forbidden. David lived near the docks and during the war where he lived there were smoke machines which “belched out an artificial fog to cover the docks and hide it from the Germans”.
Tremorfa-born Lawrence Viney was an early victim of the World War II when during an air raid alert, he ran to the nearest bomb shelter and hit his head on the door frame with such force it knocked him out, resulting in him being hospitalised for some time. On leaving hospital his mother noticed that he was misunderstanding things she said. He was eventually placed in the Oral School at Jackson Hall.
In his conclusion to this unique book, the author says: “The debate on oral or manual (sign and finger spelling) teaching methods was shown to be alive and kicking from the start. Of the three schools the Cardiff Oral School lasted longest, though in my view it was too small to be a really effective school.”
A Tale of Three Deaf Schools in South Wales is published by The British Deaf History Society and obtainable from the society 11-13 Wilson Patten Street, Warrington,WA1 1PG at £10.
I DIDN’T know until reading Cedric Moon’s A Tale of Three Deaf Schools in South Wales that there used to be a school for deaf-and-blind children in Wood Street.
Known as the Cardiff Oral School, it stood adjacent to St Dyfrig’s Church and was there from 1894 to 1898. A Miss S A Gibson, of 45 Clare Road, Cardiff, was appointed as a “teacher of deaf- and-dumb children at a salary of £70 a year”. However, she resigned after a year and was replaced by Emma Young, one of three applicants, at a salary of £100 a year.
It was later recorded that “deaf children to be transferred from Wood Street School to rooms used by the blind children at Adamsdown”, and the blind children transferred to another school.
Other Cardiff Deaf school locations were Fitzalan Place 1898-1907, Howard Gardens 1907-1941, Llandaff School 1941-1943 and Jackson Hall in Westgate Street 1943-1950.
One person who was sent to Howard Gardens was Desmond Smith who was born in 1932 into a family of six sisters and three brothers. He became deaf when aged two after a fall down the stairs at home. He remembers that he spent a great deal of time speech training with the then new audio equipment and headphones.
Another Howard Gardens pupil David Hallewell, who was born deaf in 1930, remembers that the teachers were very strict oralists with much speech training involved. Signing was strictly forbidden. David lived near the docks and during the war where he lived there were smoke machines which “belched out an artificial fog to cover the docks and hide it from the Germans”.
Tremorfa-born Lawrence Viney was an early victim of the World War II when during an air raid alert, he ran to the nearest bomb shelter and hit his head on the door frame with such force it knocked him out, resulting in him being hospitalised for some time. On leaving hospital his mother noticed that he was misunderstanding things she said. He was eventually placed in the Oral School at Jackson Hall.
In his conclusion to this unique book, the author says: “The debate on oral or manual (sign and finger spelling) teaching methods was shown to be alive and kicking from the start. Of the three schools the Cardiff Oral School lasted longest, though in my view it was too small to be a really effective school.”
A Tale of Three Deaf Schools in South Wales is published by The British Deaf History Society and obtainable from the society 11-13 Wilson Patten Street, Warrington,WA1 1PG at £10.