While he was in high school， he tried an electricalhearing aid， but it was of no value to him； due， webelieved， to a condition that was disclosed when thechild was six， by Dr. J. Gordon Wilson， of Chicago，when he operated on one side of the boy’s head， anddiscovered that there was no sign of natural hearingequipment.
During his last week in college， （eighteen yearsafter the operation）， something happened whichmarked the most important turning-point of hislife. Through what seemed to be mere chance， hecame into possession of another electrical hearingdevice， which was sent to him on trial. He was slowabout testing it， due to his disappointment with asimilar device. Finally he picked the instrument up，and more or less carelessly， placed it on his head，hooked up the battery， and lo！ as if by a stroke ofmagic， his lifelong DESIRE FOR NORMAL HEARINGBECAME A REALITY！ For the first time in his life heheard practically as well as any person with normalhearing. “God moves in mysterious ways， Hiswonders to perform.”
Overjoyed because of the Changed World which had been brought to him through his hearing device，he rushed to the telephone， called his mother， andheard her voice perfectly. The next day he plainlyheard the voices of his professors in class， for thefirst time in his life！ Previously he could hear themonly when they shouted， at short range. He heardthe radio. He heard the talking pictures. For thefirst time in his life， he could converse freely withother people， without the necessity of their havingto speak loudly. Truly， he had come into possessionof a Changed World. We had refused to acceptNature’s error， and， by PERSISTENT DESIRE， we hadinduced Nature to correct that error， through the onlypractical means available.
DESIRE had commenced to pay dividends， but the victory was not yet complete. The boy still hadto find a definite and practical way to convert hishandicap into an equivalent asset.
Hardly realizing the significance of what hadalready been accomplished， but intoxicated withthe joy of his newly discovered world of sound， hewrote a letter to the manufacturer of the hearingaid，enthusiastically describing his experience.
Something in his letter； something， perhaps whichwas not written on the lines， but back of them；caused the company to invite him to New York.
When be arrived， he was escorted through thefactory， and while talking with the Chief Engineer，telling him about his changed world， a hunch， anidea， or an inspiration—call it what you wish—flashed into his mind. It was this impulse of thoughtwhich converted his affliction into an asset， destinedto pay dividends in both money and happiness tothousands for all time to come.
The sum and substance of that impulse of thoughtwas this： It occurred to him that he might be ofhelp to the millions of deafened people who gothrough life without the benefit of hearing devices，if he could find a way to tell them the story ofhis Changed World. Then and there， he reacheda decision to devote the remainder of his life torendering useful service to the hard of hearing.
For an entire month， he carried on an intensiveresearch， during which he analyzed the entiremarketing system of the manufacturer of thehearing device， and created ways and means ofcommunicating with the hard of hearing all overthe world for the purpose of sharing with them hisnewly discovered “Changed World.” When thiswas done， he put in writing a two-year plan， basedupon his findings. When he presented the plan to thecompany， he was instantly given a position， for thepurpose of carrying out his ambition.
Little did he dream， when he went to work， thathe was destined to bring hope and practical relief tothousands of deafened people who， without his help，would have been doomed forever to deaf mutism.
Shortly after he became associated with the manufacturer of his hearing aid， he invited me toattend a class conducted by his company， for thepurpose of teaching deaf mutes to hear， and to speak.
I had never heard of such a form of education，therefore I visited the class， skeptical but hopefulthat my time would not be entirely wasted. HereI saw a demonstration which gave me a greatlyenlarged vision of what I had done to arouse andkeep alive in my son’s mind the DESIRE for normalhearing. I saw deaf mutes actually being taught tohear and to speak， through application of the selfsameprinciple I had used， more than twenty yearspreviously， in saving my son from deaf mutism.
Thus， through some strange turn of the Wheel ofFate， my son， Blair， and I have been destined to aidin correcting deaf mutism for those as yet unborn，because we are the only living human beings， as faras I know， who have established definitely the factthat deaf mutism can be corrected to the extent ofrestoring to normal life those who suffer with thisaffliction. It has been done for one； it will be donefor others.
There is no doubt in my mind that Blair wouldhave been a deaf mute all his life， if his motherand I had not managed to shape his mind as wedid. The doctor who attended at his birth told us，confidentially， the child might never hear or speak.
A few weeks ago， Dr. Irving Voorhees， a notedspecialist on such cases， examined Blair verythoroughly. He was astounded when he learned howwell my son now hears， and speaks， and said hisexamination indicated that “theoretically， the boyshould not be able to hear at all.” But the lad doeshear， despite the fact that X-ray pictures show thereis no opening in the skull， whatsoever， from wherehis ears should be to the brain.