To test their theory over the next few day they bought her some cheap brightly-coloured poppet beads, including a number of red ones. They broke them up for her and gave them to the little girl. She started by laying them out in lines and counting them by blowing down her nose. But she would not pick up the red ones. The blues, greens, whites and even the pinks didn't cause any difficulties, but she would not touch the red one's. That was all the evidence they required. Another council of war, and it was decided that they should forget about ways of making her speak for the moment and concentrate on her colour problem. It was possikble that if they could cure that phobia they might find the answer to many others.
First of all they went round the shops and boughta large, violently red sponge. When Ivy used on Ann she screamed and tried to get away from it in her bath. she was given a good smack and thoroughly washed with that sponge. Every time she needed her face or hands wiped they used the sponge. Withing a few days she accepted it, and within a week she started playing with it at bathtimes.
The next step was to buy her red socks and red slippers and make her wear them and slap her every time she tried to take them off.
Whenever they bought anything for the huse where there was a choice of colour they chose red. So much in fact that after two or three weeks they were all heartily sick of the colour. But after about six they were congratulating themselves on having won another battle. Ann had grown to accept all the red objects around her, and even played with them in her obsessive way.
Their triumph was short-lived.
convinced that they should give the experiment its final testing they took her out one Saturday morning and waited at the stop for a red bus. When it came Ann refused to get on, and screamed so much that no amount of smacking could stop her and they went home all terribly and utterly dejected.
What had gone wrong? They were so sure that they had got to the bottom of her problem with the buses and the colur, but that episode at the bus stop had proved just how wrong they were.
They thought long and hard about it. There was no doubt she had a fear of the colour red, but she had eventually accepted all those litle red objects they bought her. That was it. Little. The bus was huge. Of course. It wasn't just red objects she feared. It was large red objects.
But once they had reached that conclusion the problem was how to cure her of that fear. They couldn't face the idea of taking her to the but day after day, week after week. They had to find some way of curing that fear in the security of their own. That was easier said than done. They talked for days about what they could use and evern seriously considered painting a wall bright red.
Then when she was out shopping one day Ivy saw a flag flying, and she remembered. they had a large Union Jack stored away at home. A relec from some half-forgotten celebration. She soon got it out. It was certainly large - it covered the entire living room floor - and there was plenty of bright red.
That evening when Jack came home from work they waited until was playing with the faithful Laddie in the kitchen and laid the flag out on the floor, entrirely covering it. Ivy called Ann and she ran into the room and stopped on the edge of the flag. A look of horror was on her face. She just stood there staring at that huge splurge of red.
Gently they called to her to come to them on the other side of the room. After what felt like hours she did something that made them marvel at her intelligence, and laugh at the same time. Carefully, very carefully, she rose on to her toes and walked towards them, pointedly avoiding the red parts of the flag. Jack and Ivy walked to the other side of the room and called her again. Again she did the same thing, walking to them on her toes, avoiding the red. They called Laddie and he just strolled over the flag, flopped down and rolled on it. Then he sat up and watched Ann. Jack and Ivy moved to the opposite side from her and called her again.
by this time the horror on her face had been replaced with delight. She thought it was a game! she came over to them, again walking on her toes, and avoiding the red. So back and forth they all went. Jack and Ivy deliberately walking on the red, Ann avoiding it.
Then it happened. with all the strain of staying on her toes, one of her ankles gave way and she staggered on to St. George's Cross, slap-bang in the middle. She didn't make a sound. Gently they took her by the hand and walked her over that offending colour. They hugged her and loved her and then they put her to bed.
For the next two weeks they repeated the performance every night until she was walking on the red part without giving it a second glance.
Then Ivy got a red blanket and put it on the floor, and without hesitation Ann walked all over it. They picked it up off the floor and put it round her shoulders. They let her feel how soft and warm it was. They encouraged her to cuddle it, and they put it on her bed. The very next day they took her once more to the bus stop. And when the red bus stopped Ann very slowly put out her hand and touched the paint work. Then, and only then, did she take Ivy's hand and climb silently on board. This time there was no more doubt about victory.
Never again was Ann to be frightened of any form of transport, whatever the colour.
That breakthrough did wonders for their mroale and brought a great upsurge in their enthusiasm for their self-appointed task. It was as well it did. For shortly after that Ann went into one of her "mmods" as they now called them. For the next two weeks she spent most of her time in her little chair softly moaning and weeping great tears. They could not console her, so they left her. But this time they did not feel despondent, although their hearts went out to that pathetic creature. Somehow they knew she would soon come round and be back with them.
During that long withdrawal period they discussd amoung themselves what they should do for her when she craved any form of learning, so they determined to see if they could teach her to identify colours.
When she did come back to them they put her through all the things they had so patiently taught her, and were delighted to see that she had not forgotten any of them. In fact, they were convinced she had actually improved. Now they were ready to teach her the different colours.
Ivy had got some ribbons - a red one, a green one, a white, a blue and a yellow and sewn them together in a circle. They put them on the floor and waited for Ann to pick them up. when she did she started to count them. Each time she put her hand on a different colour she blew down her nose. Then Jack and Ivy got down on the floor with her and each time she put her hand on a colour they shouted its name. Soon Ann took it to be some kind of game and when they were silentshe would take their hand and put it on a colour before she blew down her nose. They persevered for weeks, shouting out the names. Those marvellous boys joined in and took over when their parnets were almost too tired to speak. It was a long, hard and frustrating task. She kept getting them wrong. Then they realised that when they asked ann to point to the red one she would pick up the yellow. She never picked out the red. It was the old bugbear again. So Ivy removed the red ribbon from the circle and joined the others up.
They put the red ribbon on a chair. "Where is the red, Ann?" and she picked up the yellow. They took her by the hand and led her to the offending ribbon on the chair, and said "red" to her. Then they said yellow and walked her back to the ribbons on the floor and put her hand on the yellow one. They were back to the familiar pattern of repeating things night after night, but eventually she got the idea and starting picking out the colours when asked. Ivy split them up and they placed the ribbons all over the room, within a week she could identify her basic colours.
It was hard to believe that a whole year had goneby since they started on that course of trying to teach Ann. Was it really tweove months since Jack had picked up his daughter and slapped her into feeding herself? That moment of tears and triumph that would live with him all his days? It was time to take stock. She could feed herself, she had lost her fear of dogs, of buses and colours. She could count, in her fashion, and she identify the letters of the alphabet. They had come a long way. They still had a long way - an extremely long - to go. But when he looked at his daughter Jack knew it was all going to be worthwhile. Their achievements were tremendous, and he couldn't forget that it had all been born out of utter despair and hopelessness. The one thing that made it all so wonderful was to watch Ann with her mother. There was a growing affection from the little girl. At long last she was learning the meaning of giving love.
by now Ann responded almost immediately to their commands, but she would not look them straight in the eye. They tried holding her face with both hands and putting their own faces close to hers and talking to her. But she seemd to fix her eye on some middle distance and would not look into their eyes. They spent weeks telling her the names of objects, but her only response was to blow down her nose. Apart from that she did not make any attempt to speak.
There was no struggling sound fighting to get out, no attempt at anything but blowing down her nose. They told themselves that she wasn't ready and they switched back to the bricks and beads and colours, and making up complicated patteerns for her to sort out, and she did not them in this.
She was eight now and they desperately wanted her to have an education. If only those words would come they would get her into a school, or die in the attempt.
She now had started showing an interest in television, and with her brothers became a fan of children's programmes. She would laugh when they laughed, but Jack was sure she was only mimicking them. But strangely, somehow, she knew when it was time for her favourite programmes - even when the boys were not there. That was something they could not understand. It was uncanny in a way. They encouraged her to watch. Perhaps through television there would be the breakthrough.
It came on the evening of March 14, 1960. It is a moment that has lived with them all since. Jack, Ivy, Leonard and Leslie remember it today in all its simple clarity. There is no doubt that they will remember it for the rest of their lives.
Jack and Ivy were watching a quiz programme while the children played on the floor with their toy cars. A row blew up between the boys over one particluar car. Jack angrily told them to be quiet, and they continued thei argument in whispers. Leslie was trying to take a car out of Leonard's hand, saying "yes" and Leonard was adamantly refusing to it go "No" he said. So it went on for a few minutes, those shispered word "yes" and "no". And then suddenly there was another whispered voice.
Ann had a car in one and was pulling it with the other saying "yeh" and then pulling it back and saying "nah" what a marvellous moment!!!
The television was switched off and Jack and Ivy were on the floor beside their children. Tears blinded them, but they encouraged the boys to keep whispering. Their arguemnt was forgotten in their excitement. Young as they were, they realised that the moment so long dreamed of had come ture. They pointed out objects to her and said their names, and that beautiful, wonderful sound came from the little girl. She whispered the names after. It was true. It was actualy happening. Ann was talking.
ANN COULD SPEAK.
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