STOPPMN
INSTANTLY
COMBAT INFECTION
PROMOTE HEALING
WITH ANTISEPTIC
Campho
Phenique ( PmONQUNCtO CAM-fO-flN-tt ) 1
USE IT FOR j
u i linn Dimiip pirrn f
SCRATCHES,
ABRASIONS
Camohi
ftenlqui
Quick ! Apply
Campho-rhenique
at once to minor
hums from hot
cooking utensils, hot
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I'unipho-l'henique helps pre
vent their spread and reinfection.
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rmiwz
PERIODIC
PAIN
It's downright fool
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Let Midol's 3 way action bung you
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1
5
0
Deaf Chester Dobson reads comics
in sign language to his four-year-old
son Dennis who can hear
but also understands signs.
THESE CHILDREN
DON'T CRY
In this unusual family
of deaf parents and normal youngsters,
there are problems and blessings
unlike those of any other household
With the aid of signs, deaf
Bertha Dobson "tells"
her daughters Libby and Pat
how to mend a hem.
By BOB LISTON
A guest at the home of Chester and Bertha Dobson
watched in amazement as their infant played for hours
without uttering a sound.
"I've never seen a baby who never cried," the guest said.
Mrs. Dobson smiled. "What good would it do him? He
realizes already that his parents can't hear him."
The incident illustrates the unusual relationships in a
family whose children are normal but whose parents are
deaf. The Dobsons, who live outside Washington, D.C., have
seven children. Three are Chester Dobson's by a previous
marriage Chester, Jr., 23, and Frank, 19, both away at col
lege, and Terry, 15. Bertha also has children by a previous
marriage Patsy, 17, and Alan, 14. The children of their
present marriage are Libbie, 8, and Denny, 4.
The day I arrived at the Dobson home, Patsy, a radiant
teen-ager, answered tile door. She introduced me to her
parents and herded her younger brothers and sisters into
another room to watch television.
Denny wanted to stay with the grownups and threw a
tantrum. I watched fascinated while Patsy expertly calmed
him and sent him on his way.
Anticipating my thoughts, Bertha Dobson said, "In many
ways Patsy is the mother here. She's been helping me since
she was three. It has to be that way she can hear trouble."
Unlike her husband who knows only signs, Bertha can
lip-read and has some voice, a thin monotone which can be
readily understood once you are used to it.
She is a petite woman of 45 who went deaf overnight when
she was 14. Doctors believe rickets caused a breakdown of
the vital bones in the middle ear. Her first husband, also
deaf, died. Since her marriage to Chester, she has worked as
a qualifications analyst for the U.S. Public Health Service.
Chester Dobson is a tall, wiry man of 51, exuding quiet
strength and patience. He teaches graphic arts at Gallaudet
College in Washington, the only college for the deaf in the
world. He was born deaf. His first wife, also deaf, was killed
in an automobile accident.
Mutual friends introduced him to Bertha, and after court
ing largely by mail, they were married in 1950. Bertha's
children knew no sign language and had to adjust to a step
father with whom they couldn't communicate. There was a
religious problem, too, since Bertha is Catholic and Chester,
Presbyterian. Despite all this, Bertha and Chester have
reared a happy, harmonious family.
The most serious difficulties of deaf parents center on the
first-born. "Since you can't hear, you have to be certain
you can always see the child," Bertha explained. "I took
Patsy, my eldest, everywhere while doing housework. When
she napped, I peeked in at her every five minutes. A hearing
mother doesn't have to do that. She can listen for the cry.
By the time the second child arrives, there is one child in
the house who can hear and speak. The mother no longer
has to supervise constantly. She has ears to listen for
warnings of danger. The older the child the more respon
sibility, and each new child of deaf parents becomes aware
quickly of how much he is needed to help out in the home.
Assuming so much responsibility at an early age creates
disconcertingly mature "youngsters."
Patsy, for example, is as poised as a woman twice her ago
As her mother points out, "She's going to make someone a
fine wife. Patsy knows what it means to have a large family.
She's already talking about having four children."
Patsy's role as "mother" was constantly brought home to
(Cuniiiiiiwl i
Familu Wffklu. June S. I960