Elias Peter Hansen Hofgaard (né Hansen; 25 November 1856 – 15 November 1906) was a Norwegian pioneer educator of the deaf. Hofgaard was born in Berg,

Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...

, and was brother-in-law of Lars Havstad. Hofgaard had employed the " speaking method" on very talented deaf students with good results; still it surprised many when he declared that he would use the method with the deafblind girl Ragnhild Tollefsdatter Kåta, probably among the first deafblind who learned to talk. Hofgaard reasoned that a deaf and blind child would have most use of learning to speak (rather than using e.g. the finger alphabet). Hofgaard first taught Kåta to pronounce the letters, then to combine two letters into a syllable, and finally multi-syllabic words before trying to attach meaning to what had, until then, been presented as a complicated game. The first words used were: ('watch'), ('foot'), and ('table'). The words were associated with the objects over several days until Kåta understood that the words named the object. After that she learned to understand others by placing her hand on their lips as they spoke. She learned to write and to read

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

. During the summer of 1889, Kåta met with Mary Swift Lamson (1822–1909) who had taught

Laura Bridgman Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman (December 21, 1829 – May 24, 1889) was the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, twenty years before the more famous Helen Keller; Laura's friend Anne Sullivan becam ...

at the Perkins School for the Blind. At that time, Mrs. Lamson reported that Kåta could already speak simple sentences. In 1890, ten-year-old Helen Keller was introduced to the story of Kåta and was inspired by her ability to learn to speak. He died in a railway accident in

Ljan Ljan () is a residential neighborhood in the borough Nordstrand in Oslo, Norway. It is located in the eastern rolling hillsides of the fjord Bunnefjorden. To the south Ljanselva which begins at Lutvann has its mouth, and where it runs through Li ...

in 1906. He established in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

in 1882, and chaired the school for 25 years. He is particularly known for having educated Kåta.

References

1856 births 1906 deaths People from Halden Norwegian educators Norwegian disability rights activists Railway accident deaths in Norway School founders Educators of the deaf {{Norway-bio-stub

See also

References