“There’s no hope at all, Doctor? There’s no treatment you can give him, no operation would help?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that there is nothing any doctor could do to help him. He will always be deaf.”
Hundreds of New Zealand mothers have had some such final conversation with their doctors. They have gone home with sad hearts, overcome with anxiety at the thought of the hopelessly handicapped future of their little child; a child unable to learn to hear, unable to learn to speak because he cannot hear; a child who looks at them with a vacant wondering stare when they try to tell him of the love and sadness in their hearts.
To bring hope into this tragedy and love into the hearts of these little children is the vocation of the Sisters at St. Dominic’s School for the Deaf at Feilding. Skilled in the best modern methods of educating deaf children, they are to teach these handicapped ones to live useful, happy lives not so very different from those of their luckier brothers and sisters.
St. Dominic’s is a mile or so on the Palmerston side of Feilding. Set back across the railway line from the highway is a fine old country mansion framed by trees and lawns. At one side are the former barns and stables, now being used as temporary classrooms. On the other side the builders are busy completing new classrooms for use next year; when these are finished they will begin work on the children’s new sleeping quarters adjoining.
These new buildings are linked with the main house by a covered passageway. When this new scheme is completed, the Sisters will use the top floor of the existing house as their convent. On the ground floor are already a beautiful chapel converted from the old billiard-room, a dining area and kitchen, and reception rooms. The kitchen is the admiration of the visitors; as only one Sister is available as cook, the architect has fitted the kitchen with the best labour-saving devices and has planned the lay-out to cut walking to a minimum.
St. Dominic’s has accommodation for 40 children at the moment, which is as many as the Sisters can squeeze into the temporary quarters. When the new buildings are complete early next year, there will be comfortable room for 54 boys and girls.
The thing that strikes the visitor to the school most is the individual care and attention given to the children. Every deaf child needs an education that is designed for himself. For this reason the new building has five small classrooms to take the children in small groups. It is very noticeable how the individual care given to each child extends to the whole of life at the school.
When speaking to a group of the children one quickly realizes that each one is a separate problem of education and upbringing. Those who are completely deaf from birth must be taught by imitation and lip-motion to vocalize sounds and words, a task that calls for infinite patience over years of training. At the same time they are learning to lip-read, and to read and write in the ordinary way.
Their difficulty is shown up clearly by the natural advantage of those children who have some slight sense of hearing; their voices are noticeably more natural and even, and their pronunciation more accurate. This is especially true of those who were born with normal hearing and who have become deaf through illness or accident in early childhood; while they may be quite as deaf as the others, their auditory memories are a wonderful guide to them in learning words.
The story of St. Dominic’s would not be complete without mention of the farm, which is at once a 20-acre playground for the children and a living lesson in visual education. There are the cows, the hens, the ducks, and Snowball, the white rabbit, and a pony for the children to ride. Toys, too, are much to the fore with the smaller ones, and the enthusiasm and skill shown by both girls and boys at knucklebones is a sign of the many happy hours spent on wet days at this and other indoor games. These will be well provided for next year, for in the school building, besides the five little classrooms, there will be a large arts and crafts room which will double as a recreation room, and a fine assembly hall for producing plays and entertainments and, no doubt, much fun on wet days and winter evenings.
Interwoven through everything that happens at St. Dominic’s are the things of the Faith. Prayers and devotions and religious instruction are as much in the life of this school as any of the other Catholic boarding school. First Communion and Confirmation days are celebrated with as much happiness as in any parish school; they are for the Sisters milestones of achievement in their long and patient work. And the greatest and most lasting effect on the children must be produced by the privilege of living in this large and happy family group with the Sisters, absorbing their gentle ways and inspired by their devotedness.
Catholic people can help the Sisters in many ways. They can tell the parents of Catholic deaf children about the school; the Sisters have never sought publicity and have always in the past been short of accommodation. The result is that the existence of the school often comes as a surprise to those who need it most. A further way to help is by assisting the Sisters financially. The total cost of the new St. Dominic’s at Feilding will be about £60,000. Of this amount the Sisters have been able so far to pay off only £12,000; they are praying that the Catholic people of New Zealand will help to provide the remainder so that this unusual work of Christian charity and education may continue and flourish.
Image Captions:
- A group of pupils of St. Dominic’s School for deaf children, Feilding, who were confirmed by His Grace Archbishop McKeefry in October. Next to His Grace is Rev. M. Broughton, P.P., Feilding.
- A view of the main building of St. Dominic’s School for Catholic deaf children in Feilding. There will be accommodation available for 54 boys and girls in 1954.
