Ragnhild Kaata

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The Norwegian Ragnhild Kåta (actually: Ragnhild Torleivsdatter Kaata , including: Sami tent, speak Kota) (* 23. May 1873 , † 12. February 1947 in Hamar ) was one of the first since early childhood deaf-blind persons a nearly normal life lead and could communicate with hearing and sighted people .

illness

Ragnhild Kaata was born a healthy child. She was the oldest of eight siblings. At the age of four, she became seriously ill with scarlet fever and lost sight and hearing as a result of the disease . Soon afterwards she also forgot the spoken language - except for three words: “Det er fælt”, “It's hideous / bad”, which probably expressed the state of mind of the now severely disabled child.

In 1887 the writer and teacher Hallvard Bergh made Ragnhilds acquaintance. Her story impressed him so much that he wrote about Ragnhild in the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang . Ragnhild became known and money was raised in Norway and America for her upbringing . In this way, 7,000 crowns came together.

School attendance

Ragnhild found further support from the newspaper reporter Lars Havstad, who - himself deaf - called for the introduction of compulsory education for the deaf .

In 1888 Ragnhild Kaata went to the school for the deaf in Hamar .

Until then, the deaf had communicated with the finger alphabet ; at the Hamar Institute they also learned to use spoken language . The headmaster Elias Hofgaard decided to use this method with Ragnhild as well. She learned to understand other people's spoken language by touching their lips and throat , and feeling the lip movements and vibration of the vocal cords . In this way she regained the spoken language herself.

Effects

Ragnhild Kaata's teachers were in contact with Helen Keller's and Ragnhild's ability to speak inspired ten-year-old Helen in 1890 to learn to speak "with her mouth " as well - but without much success, as she had lost the language much earlier and serious mistakes were made in class.

After the confirmation , Ragnhild returned home; However, she spent the last years of her life at the Hamar Institute, where she died in 1947.