Thomas Gallaudet was a young man of high ambitions but of weak health. After graduating from college he tried four professions but had to drop out of them. Then one day, while watching his younger brothers and sisters at play, he noticed a small girl looking on but taking no part. She was deaf. Thomas invented a game that helped her for the first time in her life to understand that things have names.From that day until the end of his life Thomas Gallaudet devoted his energies to helping the deaf to cope and to removing the barriers between the handicapped and the normal.
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"Lawyer, teacher, preacher, merchant," wrote fourteen-year-old Thomas Gallaudet. His ambitions were lofty, but his strength —"pindling," his mother termed him.
Graduating from Yale College in 1805, he tried all four of the professions he had written down, with the same result—he had to drop out. Still he clung to the promise, "To every man his work." Where would he find his? He didn't; his work found him. And miracle of miracles, his health seemed to say, "I will not interfere."
On a May day in 1814, while watching his younger brothers and sisters at play, Thomas noticed a small girl looking wistfully on but taking no part. She was Alice Cogswell, and deafness shut her out of the circle. The lack of language and the inability to express herself had created a barrier between her and her friends. Resourceful Thomas invented a game that helped Alice for the first time in her life to understand that things have names. During the afternoon, he taught her to write two words, hat and Alice.
From that May day until the end of his life, Thomas Gallaudet devoted his energies to removing barriers between those who are handicapped and those who are not. His inspiring story is told with the insight and sympathy that mark the author's biography of Louis Braille.
—from the dust jacket
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