tsnaw^ School '•^ M^-i*^;, ALLEN LATSHAW Founder and Director ' ^ ^ 1' H E LATSHA W SCHOOL ALLEN LATSHAW Founder and Director « * * 3412-3414 Sansom Street Pniladelpnia THE MAPLES BERWYN, PENNSYLVANIA j-Ce^-c^l ";j^^ :i Copyrighted, 1915, by Allen Latshaw All rights of reproduction are reserved. The pictures of children are printed by special permission of the parents. (S)CI.A410333 ;ep -8 1915 Xhe Latsnaw Scnool Aim OUR aim is to develop backward, subnormal or defect- ive children — those who have latent powers but who have not learned how to use them under ordinary conditions — into their natural normal activities so that they may take their rightful place in the world, to live and work with their fellows. What Boys and Girls We Help The boys and girls whom we develop into normal life in- clude those whom friends call "silly" or "peculiar"; whom physicians call "nervous," "defectives," "imbeciles," or "idiots"; whom teachers call "stupid," "dull," "dumb," "backward," The Maples from the Playgrounds 5 The Latshaw School "subnormal," "feeble-minded." In fact, any child who is "not like other children" needs and is improved by our care. No case is hopeless. Children whom physicians and other educators have classed as "degenerates ' and recommended placing in an institution where, removed from the world and public notice, they exist in hopeless mental and physical bondage — even such children have under our care developed into useful members of society, with average intelligence and activities. Our greatest mission is for those boys and girls who are slightly deficient, who are not able to progress in ordinary schools because they are "backward," "incoriigible," or "mis- understood" by their teachers. Under our sympathetic and Main Porch 7 The Latshaw School scientific care they develop into unusually bright students, able to rejoin their fellows in the regular school, competent to meet all the demands of social life. Such pupils on the borderland between normal and subnormal have been led by us into remarkable activities. We are developing the so-called "degenerates" of all kinds into useful members of society, freed from the supposed taint of heredity. Age of Admittance In our long experience we have helped children from three years old to twenty-one years old. In severe cases it is impor- Music Room, with Schoolroom on the left 9 The Latshaw School tant that the children be placed in our care as early as possible before the habits of retarded or irregular life have grown too strong. The younger the child the more thorough will be his development into normal activities. Yet our success in rousing older children, even adults, to a consciousness and normal use of their powers has been so remarkable that we are warranted in saying that any immature person will be benefitted by our care. Parents of subnormal children sometimes are unwilling to send their children away as long as they can be kept within their own home without attracting notice. They wrongly feel that the children will do as well at home until they are six or seven years old or even older. They feel, especially mothers, that the child will be better cared for at home. We earnestly Lunch Room 11 The Latshaw School urge such parents to visit our home and see how remarkable a family we have ; how every child is a member of our family group and cared for as carefully, even more carefully than is possible in his own home. At all hours of the day and night he is surrounded with sympathetic friends and home comforts to draw him from his clouded life into the brightness of well- rounded interests and activities. Everything necessary to his health, happiness and progress is provided for. Our Method Our method deals with a distinct system of general educa- tion, fundamentally different from any other. It finds the real A Bedroom 13 The Latshaw School individuality of the pupil and teaches him how to develop that individuality by his own initiative. This system utilizes the natural method of growth and of devel- oping the physical body through the agency of the mind, which is, in its broadest sense, mind's own method of developing and using its organism. Through perception, comparison, idealiza- tion and original application the pupil's world of activities becomes a unit and his enthusiasm rouses and becomes an ever- present stimulus. Patience, sympathy and the understanding of childhood enable us to achieve results as specialists in the growing of minds. As a sculptor models the crude lump of clay into the ealization of his ideal, so we, knowing the possibilities of a 1 i The Maples in Winter 15 The Latshaw School child, conscious of the real individual which has been retarded by accident, little by little model his inert brain until he becomes the real human being that nature intended him to be. Our method is individual and personal. "When a child comes to us, no matter how retarded mentally or defective physically, our first work is to find what the child is interested in. Most of these seemingly inert or erratic children live a life of specialized mental activity, centering round a few ideas or emotions, but differing much from normal children of wide interests. To the ordinary observer, they appear to be without conscious life, to have absolutely no interest in their environment, to have neither sense nor imagination. Another part of the Museum 17 The Latshaw School But in all the twenty-four years of our experience with thousands of normal and subnormal children, we have never discovered a single case in which the child had no interest. No matter how listless or lifeless the child may seem, we always persist until we find his interest and develop it, and around that interest as a center of attention we gradually build up for the child a world of interests. From the slightest physical and mental effort, we develop an increasing series of physical and mental activities until the child emerges from his restricted life into the full daily enjoyment of normal senses and activities. We continually rouse him from];his dormant state until under our constant guiding care he develops naturally into the full Reception Room 19 Some of our Assistants The Latshaw School stature of manhood. After our pupils leave us, we continue to advise their parents and to direct their further work until they are thoroughly reset in their home surroundings. History of the School The Latshaw system has been gradually developed during the Director's wide experience as an educator of children. Five of the best training schools in the country, including the University of Pennsylvania, and over seven thousand pupils representing nearly every age, grade, mental quality and social condition have been mcluded m the Director's experience during the past twenty- four years: this, in connection with an original study of man in his various activities, has produced a system of general education One of the Schools where Prof. Latshaw began his Teaching 21 VIEW TOWAREII IE SOUTHWEST VIEW TOWARDS THE SOUTHWEST -'- -'1 1 ■I / 1 '-^^ — if. ' ^3 1 I^Mppp^.i^-:^^., ••(V.^»j:0'| ^^^H imiMHI J 'M'Mr^ 0. Specimens of Prof. Latshaw's Own Work as a Student In the ^Vorkshop The Latshaw School which, when put to the severest possible test, has fully proven the claims of its founder. Prof. Latshaw early began his work as a teacher in the Public Schools, rising from grade work until he became Super- visor of Drawing and Vocational Training in many public and private schools in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. His attention was early attracted to "backward" pupils, and gradually the children who were making trouble in other classes or were failing to progress came to him for the help necessary for adjustment to their regular work. This side line to his regular teaching increased until the demands for this special instruction were so great that he relinquished his regular classes Shells in the Museum 25 The Latshaw School to devote his whole time to developing the minds of subnormal children. The Latshaw Special School was formally opened as a day school in 1 904 and as a boarding school in 1912. The Boarding School was moved in the spring of 1 9 1 4 to its present quarters, The Maples, Berwyn, Pa. Prof. Latshaw has sacrificed every personal interest to this work of growing minds; his methods have opened up a new field of curative science and are accomplishing what formerly was considered impossible. Our Location Our Day School is located at 3412-3414 Sansom Street, Children's Handiwork 27 The Latshaw School Philadelphia, and our home or Boarding School at The Maples, Berwyn, Pennsylvania, which is seventeen miles west of Phila- delphia on the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Here is our Main Building, a commodious private house, resting on the summit of a gentle slope, with open country on three sides. The grounds are four acres in extent, with space for all kinds of outdoor amusements. The healthfulness and beauty of the location is well attested Children's Handiwork 39 The Latshaw School by the magnificent estates in the immediate neighborhood. The continuous round of interesting mental and physical activities, pure country air and food, pure water, the comforts of a well- regulated family, and the freedom of outdoor life have resulted in remarkable health for all children under our care. The near- ness of the city with the frequent train service is an advantage for visiting parents. The School physician is near at hand should any child need medical attention. And all the children are examined by the physician at regular intervals. Specialists from Philadelphia may be called in consultation if desired. But our children are remarkably healthy and seldom need special medical attention. Children's Handiwork 31 The Latshaw School Our Equipment The Maples contains everything needed for the comfort and progress of the children. The bedrooms are large, simply but An Interrupted Feast 33 1^ * \ ^' PETS The Latshaw School tastefully and comfortably furnished, with perfect ventilation, and so arranged that a nurse is always in a communicating room. The dining room is large and bright; so is the kitchen with its sanitary equipment. In the schoolroom is every imaginable kind of toy and device to arouse the children's interest; many of these are of our own design and manufacture. Nothing that might awaken a child's dormant interest is lacking. The School Museum is probably the largest collection ever used by any school in stimulating sense perception. These children live so much within themselves that they must in every possible way be roused to an appreciation of the objective world. They must be led to desire, to feel, to hear, to see, to think, to do, to reason — more and more from day to day. Most interest- 35 In the Fold On the Hillside The Latshaw School ing are the articles that illustrate the gradual development of thought problems from the crude minds of primitive peoples up to modern culture. On three sides of the house is a roomy porch, constantly used by the children. On the grounds are many things to amuse the awakening minds — a tennis court, a vegetable garden, individual flower gardens, chickens, ducks, kittens, sheep — and wide lawns with shady trees and benches, ideal places for resting or romping. All our assistants and employees are carefully chosen; they are heart and soul in the work. We all live as one hopeful, happy family, rejoicing in the visible results of our training in the brightening minds of the children. Why not come and see for yourself? If you have a subnormal child, who, you realize, needs such help as ours, why not come pay us a visit and see for yourself how we work, how we live, and what we are accomplishmg? Off for a Ride 37 Feeding the Chickens The Latshaw School Bring the child with you. You will be welcome at any time. We have no secret methods of training or disciphne. You will see how the children are under constant patient care; how they are gradually trained to take care of themselves; but until they can do this responsibly, we are always helping them. Correspondence Confidential Many parents are naturally sensitive about their subnormal children. Years ago such children were supposed to be the result of tainted blood in the parents. But today science is proving that many of these little ones are the victims of accidents, not of vice; that their present condition is due to some severe nervous shock in their extremely sensitive prenatal existence or in the early days of infancy. Theirs is not the fault; nor are their parents to blame. Science is declaring that their burden of restriction must be and can be lifted. Why not remove your heartache by giving your own child his chance of normal maturity? We have helped others; we will help him. We are careful to keep the identity of our children from public attention. Your correspondence will be held confidential. Group 'Work — Vocational Training Each child made a complete thing which was combined into the group work 39 The Surprise The Greeting The Latshaw School Remember that this is a home, a family — not an institution; that we are hberators, not jailers; that our mission in life is to free these unfortunates from their restrictions. Our School work is not simply the coaching in language, mathematics, grammar, deportment, etc., but it is also the training and developing of the real nature of the child by strictly individual attention so that he will be enabled in due time to catch up in the race and take his place, without undue effort, with normal and average children, and profit by the regular routine of home and school life. We are specialists in the growing of minds. Group Work— Vocational Training Each child made a complete thing which was combined into the group work 41 Awakening Interest The pictures on this and the next page show the results of our system on an idiotic child who was deaf, dumb, blind and physically helpless at the age of three Closer Inspection The Latshaw School Terms A child may come to us at any time of the year and should remain continuously with us until restored to normal activities. The rates vary according to the age and condition of the child, ranging from $1200 a year up (twelve months). For further details and arrangements, address ALLEN LATSHAW Founder and Director The Maples Berwyn, Pennsylvania 43