BY: DARREN RUSSEK

It was in the 16th century when Geronimo Cardano, an Italian
physician proclaimed that the deaf could be taught to understand
written combinations of symbols by associating them with what
they represented.



By the 1800s, different methods and forms of sign language
already existed in Europe but not the U.S. In Connecticut,
Galluadet very much wanted to figure out a way to educate his
neighbors deaf daughter and so he travelled all over Europe.
After many rejections he ended up in France where he met a man
named Laurent Clerc whom he convinced to travel back to
America.
The two brilliant men started the Asylum for the Education and
Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons in April of 1817. The
school is now called the American School for the Deaf (which you
can further explore using the link below…)
The American School for the Deaf








There are different forms of Sign
Language for different countries,
similar to how Americans speak
English compared to Africans
speaking African, or Spanish people
speaking Spanish.
To the right is illustrations of the
American Sign Language alphabet.

Founded in 1864 by an Act of Congress, its charter was signed by
Abraham Lincoln. It is now the world leader in Liberal Education
and career development for deaf and hard of hearing
undergraduate students. Galluadet has 15,000 proud alumni, 986
undergraduate students, and 403 graduate students.