DEAF HISTORY & CULTURE
MISS EWART
Mid-1700’s
• Deafness used to be considered a divine
punishment or sin.
• In the mid-1700’s – a French priest, Charles
Michel De L'Eppe, established the first free
public school for the deaf in France. He also
published a dictionary for French Sign
Language.
• At the same time, oral education was making
strides in other countries.
Early 1800’s
• Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American interested in
deaf education, travels to Europe where he meets De
L'Eppe's successor, the Archbishop Roche Sicard, the
author of "Theory of Signs."
• Sicard sends one of his instructors, Laurent Clerc, back
with Gallaudet, and the pair found the American
School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817.
• Many teachers of the deaf train in Hartford, and, soon
sign-based deaf schools in New York, Pennsylvania,
Kentucky and elsewhere begin to flourish.
• Alice Cogswell, Gallaudet's initial inspiration to teach
the deaf, is the first to graduate from the American
School.
Mid/late-1800’s
• In 1864 – Abraham Lincoln signs the charter for
the Washington, D.C. – based college for the deaf.
• Originally known as the National College for the
Deaf and Dumb, it is the only accredited facility
for the deaf in the United States to offer college
degrees.
• The first president of Gallaudet is Edward Miner
Gallaudet, son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.
• The dedication of the Gallaudet family is honored
when the college changes its name to Gallaudet
College in 1893.
• Today, Gallaudet remains a leader in higher
education for the deaf.
A.G. Bell
• In 1872, Alexander Graham Bell opens a school in
Boston that concentrates on oral methods of
instruction for teachers of the deaf.
• The school is not successful due to heavy opposition
from established deaf schools that use manual sign
methods.
• Bell eventually gives up administering deaf education
and refocuses his attention on a contraption he has
been tinkering with that mechanizes speech.
• In 1876, A. G. Bell invents the telephone.
• Armed with wealth and enormous recognition, he goes
on to found the Volta Bureau to promote oral-based
education for deaf children.
• A period of upheaval in deaf education begins with a
backlash against sign language.
Oral Education & NAD
• An international gathering of Deaf educators decides
that oral education methods are superior to manual
education methods.
• The only country opposing the vote for oral-based
education is the United States, where manual
education has made great strides.
• During the next 10 years, the popularity of manual
education for the deaf declines sharply. 75% of
teachers using the manual method have retired by
1890.
• In the U.S. – the National Association of the Deaf
(NAD) is founded in 1880 and gains support. The NAD
is instrumental in keeping sign language and manual
education alive.
Sports
• In 1901, baseball's American League gets its
first grand slam thanks to William "Dummy"
Hoy, a deaf player. Umpire hand signals are
developed so that Hoy can see a strike called
from the outfield.
• In the 1920s, Gallaudet University's football
team keeps its plays a secret by hiding signed
instructions in a huddle formation. Soon,
other teams are huddling up too, and a
football tradition is born.
TTY & Hearing Aids
• In 1964 – Robert Weitbrecht, who
is deaf, invents the teletypewriter
(TTY), which enables deaf people
to use phone lines to call each
other and type out their
conversations.
• Hearing aids are large and bulky,
often weighing a couple pounds.
TC & PL 94-142
• Two historically divergent education methods
converge, at least in theory, as Total Communication, a
combination of manual and speech based instruction
for the deaf is developed and promoted.
• Formulated in the early 1960's by a mother dissatisfied
with oral-based attempts to teach her deaf daughter,
the Total Communication system gains grassroots
support and becomes the foundation for a new
approach to deaf education within public school
systems.
• By 1975, Public Law 94-142, is passed requiring
handicapped children in the U.S. be provided with free
and appropriate education, allowing many to be
mainstreamed into regular public schools, where they
receive special instruction but interact with the general
public school population.
Closed Captioning
• By 1980 Close Captioning is developed and
the first show broadcast. Close Captioning
hides the text from view unless the user has a
decoding device.
• By the early 1990’s, the FCC requires that all
newly manufactured televisions have the
decoding chip.
Cochlear Implants - 1985
• The cochlear implant is approved
for clinical trials in people 18 and
older.
• The device bypasses the bones of
the inner ear, placing electrodes
directly into the cochlea, where
sound waves are absorbed and
interpreted by the auditory
nerve.
• Huge debate in the Deaf
community over CI.
Marlee Matlin - 1987
• Marlee Matlin becomes the first deaf actress
to win an Academy Award, for her role in the
movie "Children of a Lesser God."
Deaf President Now - 1988
• Students and faculty at Gallaudet University
protest the selection of another hearing
president.
• The 'Deaf President Now' protest continued for 8
days, with multiple rallies, press conferences and
marches.
• Finally, Dr. I. King Jordan was named the first deaf
president of Gallaudet University.
• Dr. I. King Jordan is famous for saying, “Deaf
people can do anything except hear.”
• Meanwhile, Congress recommends that American
Sign Language be used as the primary language
for the deaf, with English as a second language.
Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990
• President George Bush signs the ADA in 1990.
• Discriminatory practices and obstacles to
accessibility for the handicapped are both
outlawed.
• The law requires greater communications,
education, and employment opportunities for
the deaf.
• In keeping with the ADA, caption decoder
chips are required in television sets larger
than 13".
First Deaf Miss America - 1995
• Heather Whitestone, an orally educated deaf
woman from Birmingham, Alabama, wins the
coveted crown. She states, "[Speech] worked
for me, but it does not work for all deaf
children.“
Technology
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cochlear Implants – remember the debate?
Hearing Aids – amplify sound only
FM Systems
TTY
Video Phones
Texting
Email
Deaf Culture
• Deaf vs. deaf
• Deaf = being part of a community with its own
history, values, and culture.
– 2 biggest aspects of Deaf Culture are:
• being Deaf
• using ASL
• deaf = inability to hear
– post-lingual
– elderly people
Deaf Culture continued…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ASL is not universal.
Hearing = Individualist
Deaf = Collectivist
Deaf people are more comfortable sharing
personal information.
Deaf people tend to be more direct.
Facial expressions & eye contact are essential.
Deaf people tend to take longer to leave.
“If you can see it, you can comment on it”
Deaf Myths
• Myth: All Deaf people can read lips.
• Fact: Only about 30% of what is said can be
lip-read.
• Myth: All Deaf people are mute.
• Fact: DP have the ability to talk, but some
chose not to for a variety of reasons. Others
enjoy using their voice. It is a personal
decision.
• Myth: All deaf people use sign language.
• Fact: Spoken word, SEE, TC, etc…
Deaf Myths continued…
• Myth: Deaf people prefer to be called
handicapped or disabled.
• Fact: Deaf prefer to be called DEAF or HARDOF-HEARING.
• Myth: Deaf people are less intelligent.
• Fact: The inability to hear is unrelated to
intelligence.
• Myth: Deaf people can’t read or write.
• Fact: Deaf people CAN read and write.
Deaf Myths continued…
• Myth: Deaf people want to hear.
• Fact: Deaf people are perfectly fine being Deaf
and don’t feel they need to become hearing to
live a “normal” life.
• Myth: Deaf people can’t drive.
• Fact: Deaf people have safer driving records
than hearing people.
• Myth: Deaf people don’t enjoy music.
• Fact: Deaf people can feel the vibrations of
music.
Deaf Myths continued…
• Myth: All Deaf people have Deaf parents.
• Fact: 90% of Deaf children have HEARING
parents. Only 10% of Deaf children have Deaf
parents. These children are called CODAs… a
Child of a Deaf Adult.
• Myth: Deaf people can read braille.
• Fact: Braille is for the blind.
Deaf Peddlers
• DEAF PEDDLERS
• STAY AWAY!