As we have seen, Dr. Bates attached much importance to memory. Years before his book appeared, he had published a paper in a medical journal entitled: "Memory as an Aid to Vision."
The reason for this emphasis may be found, perhaps, in the obituary that appeared in the July 11, 1931 issue of the New York Times, when Dr. Bates died. Under the subhead, "Victim, Many Years Ago, of a Strange Form of Amnesia, He Disappeared Twice," the obituary tells the strange story of how Dr. Bates had vanished seven years after graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons and how his wife found him later in London in a state of nervous exhaustion, with no recollection of recent events. She took him to a hotel but, after two days, he disappeared again. His wife sought him in different European countries but died without being able to locate him. Dr. Bates later reappeared in the Middle West. He started a practice in New York and married again.
A strange manâand a strange book.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/bates.html">http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/bates.html</a><!-- m -->
I AM NOT A CRITIC. I support the Bates method 100%. Just want to get your opinion. Thanks
Bates's emphasis on memory was more visual or sense memory, not really related to aphasia or amnesia. There's more to the story of his disappearance, but it's mainly some confused stories by newspaper reporters. Anyway, he disappeared from New York in 1902, and from 1903 to 1910 he did several years of work with elementary school kids in North Dakota. Then he went back to NY.
It doesn't matter whether you support the Bates method - you'd still be welcome here.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
