[Sidenote: Adenoids]
Webbie sat with mouth open and tongue on under lip almost constantly. He
never instantly obeyed commands, but watched other children and followed
their lead. Work tired him too quickly. His teacher, Miss Smith, found
her commands for him to close his mouth heeded for half a minute only.
Her request, “Webbie, be ready to begin work,” was obeyed, but as soon
as class instruction began, in a panic he watched other children and
seemed to take his cue for work from them.
Miss Smith tested his hearing by standing behind him at recess time and
quietly speaking to him. She found his hearing to be very defective. She
decided by experiment on the playground that he could scarcely breathe
with his mouth closed.
His parents were tactfully consulted and following the advice of their
family physician, they had his adenoids removed. His hearing improved so
that he heard and obeyed the teacher’s instructions.