Deaf History - Milan 1880 Event with Powerful Repurcussions
By Jamie Berke, About.com Guide
Updated April 28, 2009
Milan 1880. No other event in the history of deaf education had a greater impact on the lives and education of deaf
people. This single event almost destroyed sign language.
What Happened in 1880?
In 1880, there was an international conference of deaf educators, the Second International Congress on Education of
the Deaf. At this conference, held September 6-11, 1880, a declaration was made that oral education was better
than manual (sign) education. A resolution was passed banning sign language. The only countries opposed to the
ban were the United States (represented by Edward Miner Gallaudet, Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, Issac Peet, James
Denison, and Charles Stoddard) and Britain. The sign supporters tried, but failed, to get their voices heard. Here
are the first of 8 resolutions passed by the convention:
1.
The Convention, considering the incontestable superiority of articulation over signs in restoring the deaf-mute to
society and giving him a fuller knowledge of language, declares that the oral method should be preferred to that of
signs in the education and instruction of deaf-mutes.
2.
The Convention, considering that the simultaneous use of articulation and signs has the disadvantage of injuring
articulation and lip-reading and the precision of ideas, declares that the pure oral method should be preferred
The other resolutions dealt with instruction of impoverished deaf students, how to instruct deaf students orally, the
need for instructional books for deaf oral teachers, the long-term benefits of oral instruction, the optimal ages for
oral instruction and length of instruction, and phasing out of manually instructed students. A photocopy of the Milan
resolutions is in the book Deaf Heritage.
Deaf History - Milan 1880 (continued)
How Could This Happen?
It was a foregone conclusion. The outcome was basically "fixed" because the conference was planned and organized
by a committee that was against sign language. This committee selected the attending representatives — more than
half were known oralists from France and Italy. Although other topics were supposed to be discussed, the conference
focused on the methods of instruction, and representatives talked about the method of instruction used in their schools either speech or combined speech and sign. Immediately after these presentations, the resolutions were made.
What Was the Immediate Effect?
The repercussions to Milan were immediate:
•Deaf teachers lost their jobs
•The fledgling National Association of the Deaf attracted more supporters as deaf people fought to save their language
and culture
•The president of Gallaudet College (now University) decided to retain sign language on the Gallaudet campus. This
monumental decision may have been largely responsible for sign language's survival.
What Was the Long-Term Impact?
Milan 1880 is of such significance in deaf history that it has been commemorated in artworks, such as the artwork of
artist Mary Thornley, who has done a painting showing hearing "hunters" seeking to shoot down ASL.
In October 1993, Gallaudet University held a conference, "Post Milan ASL and English literacy." The conference
proceedings included an essay, "Reflections upon Milan with an eye to the future," by Katherine Jankowski.
In retrospect, one could say that in the years since, sign language and oralism have learned to co-exist peacefully.
There will never be another Milan 1880.
Alexander Graham Bell Promotes (Oral) Deaf Education
From the website - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/soundandfury/culture/dhpop/popup10.html
Telephone inventor Bell, whose mother was hard of hearing and whose father spent much of his life promoting a
defunct teaching method for the deaf called "visible speech," begins his career as a deaf educator. In 1872, he opens a
school in Boston that concentrates on oral methods of instruction for teachers of the deaf. The school is not successful,
however, 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, he 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.
AG Bell Association Today
From the website - http://agbell.org/Netcommunity/
The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing helps families, health care providers and
education professionals understand childhood hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis and
intervention. Through advocacy, education, research and financial aid, AG Bell helps to ensure that every child and adult
with hearing loss has the opportunity to listen, talk and thrive in mainstream society. With chapters located in the United
States and a network of international affiliates, AG Bell supports its mission: Advocating Independence through Listening
and Talking!
Oral Deaf Education History
Many teachers of the deaf, speech-language pathologists and audiologists believe that children who are deaf or hard of
hearing should have the opportunity to learn to listen and talk. Historically, the majority of children with hearing loss
communicated through sign language or in combination with the spoken word. Bell's vision that children who are deaf or
hard of hearing have the ability to learn spoken language has only recently begun to gain widespread acceptance. Today,
with the help of early diagnosis, advanced hearing technologies and early intervention, oral deaf education has proven
that most children who are deaf or hard of hearing can develop spoken language skills comparable to their hearing peers
by the time they enter 1st grade.
Oral Deaf Education History Continued
Early 16th Century
A Benedictine monk named Pedro Ponce de Leon tutored the children who were deaf or hard of hearing of the Spanish
nobility using oral deaf methods.
Early 18th Century
A German teacher named Samuel Heinicke developed the foundations of modern oral deaf education. He believed that
language was essential to the process of thinking, and felt that it was critical for children who were deaf or hard of hearing to
learn to use spoken language in order to have access to the wider world. He was the first advocate of what is now considered
mainstreaming. At the time, Heinicke and his colleagues focused on teaching speaking only.
Late 19th Century
Educators began to develop the role that residual hearing would began to play in the oral education of the deaf. Dr. Max
Goldstein developed the notion of audition (the use of residual hearing) as an integral part of oral deaf education.
At first, audition was added to the other techniques for teaching children who were deaf or hard of hearing to speak. In
classrooms, "multisensory" techniques, using vision, gestures and touch (tactile) were dominant and "unisensory" (auditiononly) tutoring was attempted only in one-on-one situations.
Early 20th Century
After World War II, when many veterans returned from the war with hearing loss, the government funded research on hearing
aids powerful enough to benefit even children with profound hearing loss. As a result, children were able to use their residual
hearing as well as visual cues to learn to speak, and unisensory education became a dominant mode of teaching speech.
Late 20th Century
Cochlear implants and other new technologies have maximized auditory potential of children with hearing loss for whom
analog hearing aids provided little or no benefit. Now, with early identification of infants and young children with hearing loss
and the early intervention of technology and instruction, more and more children are learning to listen and speak at an earlier
age.
Audism
About.com:Deafness
•
A negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and
organizations, and failure to accommodate them. People who have audist attitudes are
considered to be audists. For example, the refusal or failure to use sign language in the presence
of a sign language-dependent person is considered audism. –
Gallaudet University FAQs: Audism –
•
The notion that one is superior based on one’s ability to hear or behave in a manner of one who
hears. (Humphries 1977: 12)
•
… an attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyone
who does not hear; like racism or sexism, audism judges, labels, and limits individuals on the
basis of whether a person hears or speaks. (Humphrey and Alcorn 1995: 85)
Examples of Audism: (http://new.vawnet.org/category/index_pages.php?category_id=973)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Jumping in to help a deaf person communicate.
Asking a Deaf person to read your lips or write when s/he has indicated this isn’t preferred.
Making phone calls for a deaf person since they "can't."
Refusing to call an interpreter when one is requested.
Assuming that those with better speech/English skills are superior.
Asking a Deaf person to "tone down" their facial expressions because they are making others
uncomfortable.
Refusing to explain to a Deaf person why everyone around him is laughing – "never mind, I’ll tell you later, it
doesn't matter."
Devoting a significant amount of instructional time for a Deaf child to lipreading and speech therapy, rather
than educational subjects.
Racism
1.
[n] discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race . ⇔ Synonyms
[ racialism racial_discrimination ] ⇑Broader
[discrimination favoritism favouritism ]⇓Narrower
[racial_profiling ]
2.
[n] the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races .
Ethnic - Ethnicity
1.
2.
3.
[a] denoting or deriving from or distinctive of the ways of living built up by a group of people ; "influenced by
ethnic and cultural ties"- J.F.Kennedy; "ethnic food". ⇔ Synonyms
[ cultural ethnical ] Similar to
[social ]
[a] relating to or being a member of an ethnic group ; "ethnic frontiers"; "ethnic Chinese in San Francisco".
[a] not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam .
Definitions from www.lookwayup.com
Vocabulary
1. Oppressive – marked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior;
“tyrannous disregard for human rights”
2. Accommodate
a) Make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose. (adjust, adapt)
b) Make compatible with. (reconcile, conciliate, harmonize)
3. Pathological – Caused by or altered by a manifesting disease or
pathology. (diseased, unhealthy)
4. Stigma – a symbol of disgrace or infamy (mark, brand, stain,
tarnish)
5. Justify
a) Show to be a reasonable or provide adequate ground for. (warrant,
confirm)
b) Show to be right by providing justification or proof. (vindicate, uphold,
excuse, legitimate)
6. Autonomy
a) Immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence.
(liberty, emancipation)
b) Personal independence. (self-reliance, self-direction, self-sufficiency)
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Deeper Meanings…
After reading the above collection of writings, list
three reasons you think ASL was banned in the
classroom:
1. .
2. .
3. .
“Isms”
Is there a connection?
Yesterday – Deaf Culture
Anti-ASL Sentiment Rises and Falls in the U.S from 1880 to
1960
From the website - http://www.canyons.edu/departments/sign/PowerPoint%201%20-%20Historical%20Perspective.htm
1880’s
The Conference of Milan Endorses Oral Education
• In a move with repercussions well into the future, this international gathering of deaf educators pronounces
oral education methods superior to manual communications systems.
• The only country opposing the vote for oral-based education is the United States, where manual education
has made great strides.
Milan Conference Cont.
• During the next 10 years, the popularity of manual education for the deaf declines sharply.
• Seventy-five percent of teachers using the manual method have retired by 1890.
• In the U.S., the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is founded and gains support in reaction to the Milan
resolution.
•
The NAD is instrumental in keeping sign language and manual education alive.
Rise of Oralism
•
1927 - Oralism in America is at its zenith. Only 15% of teachers are Deaf
A Slow Recovery
From the website - http://www.canyons.edu/departments/sign/PowerPoint%201%20-%20Historical%20Perspective.htm
1910’s-1950’s
Deaf Employment Skyrockets
•
While deaf people are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military during World War I and World War II,
wartime labor shortages provide many new job opportunities for deaf people.
•
Many take manufacturing jobs, and new deaf communities, such as the one based around the Goodyear
plant in Akron, Ohio, flourish.
•
Meanwhile, in Europe, entire companies of deaf soldiers take up arms.
•
In the field, commands are given using special signs that can be seen at a distance.
1941-1945 - World War Two creates a need for labor. Deaf men and women are hired in record numbers to work
in defense industries. Many relocate to work in factories in California, Ohio, New York and Washington, DC.
Many employers note the abilities of Deaf workers for the first time.
1960 - First Linguistic book and defense of ASL as a language by William Stoke
1964
Phone for Deaf Invented
• 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.
1964
Oral Deaf Education Labeled ‘Failure’
• Congress issues the Babbidge Report on oral deaf education and concludes that it has been a "dismal
failure." Many in the deaf community applaud this report, and look at it as a long-over due acknowledgment of
the superiority of manual communication and education.
Today – Multi-Ethnic Culture
Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies — By Jessica Calefati
(Mother Jones Magazine)| Wed May. 12, 2010 2:10 PM PDT
Hispanic students fill nearly half the seats in Arizona's public school classrooms, but a new law signed by
Governor Jan Brewer Tuesday makes it illegal for these students to learn about their heritage in school. HB
2281 prohibits schools from offering courses at any grade level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote
overthrow of the US government, or cater to specific ethnic groups—regulations which will dismantle the
state's popular Mexican-American studies programs.
Much like Arizona's new immigration law, this ethnic studies ban is political interest dressed up to look like
education reform. The bill was passed largely because of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
Horne's personal distaste for the Tuscon Unified School District's Chicano studies program, in which 3
percent of the district's 55,000 students participate. He has been hell-bent on squashing the program ever
since learning several years ago that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson High School
students that "Republicans hate Latinos," the Associated Press reports.
"Traditionally, the American public school system has brought together students from different backgrounds
and taught them to be Americans and to treat each other as individuals, and not on the basis of their ethnic
backgrounds," Horne noted in an April press release. "This is consistent with the fundamental American value
that we are all individuals, not exemplars of whatever ethnic groups we were born into. Ethnic studies
programs teach the opposite, and are designed to promote ethnic chauvinism."
District officials insist the program covers history—not activism or chauvinism. In the Mexican-American
studies program, an American history course highlights Hispanics' role in the Vietnam War, and literature
students analyze the works of Latino authors. The kids learn, for example, that Arizona was once part of
Mexico, and that in the 1960s Chicano radicals called for reclaiming the land, reports Valerie Strauss of the
Washington Post. The new law also means Arizona students will lose access to African-American and NativeAmerican studies.
On her blog, The Answer Sheet, Strauss describes the bill as symptomatic of a larger problem—the growing
number of state legislators telling educators how to do their jobs. "We tried this once before, in a big law
called No Child Left Behind, which was designed with the input of not a single teacher, and which
spectacularly failed in its goal to close the achievement gap," Strauss writes. "We never seem to learn from
our own mistakes. How do we expect kids to do that if the adults can’t get it right?"
H.B. 2281 - http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/hb2281s.pdf
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding sections 15-111 and 15-112, to read:
15-111. Declaration of policy
THE LEGISLATURE FINDS AND DECLARES THAT PUBLIC SCHOOL PUPILS SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO TREAT AND VALUE EACH
OTHER AS INDIVIDUALS AND NOT BE TAUGHT TORESENT OR HATE OTHER RACES OR CLASSES OF PEOPLE.
15-112. Prohibited courses and classes; enforcement
A. A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL IN THIS STATE SHALL NOT INCLUDE IN ITS PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION
ANY COURSES OR CLASSES THAT INCLUDE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. PROMOTE THE OVERTHROW OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
2. PROMOTE RESENTMENT TOWARD A RACE OR CLASS OF PEOPLE.
3. ARE DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR PUPILS OF A PARTICULAR ETHNIC GROUP.
4. ADVOCATE ETHNIC SOLIDARITY INSTEAD OF THE TREATMENT OF PUPILS AS INDIVIDUALS.
B. IF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION DETERMINES THAT A
SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL IS IN VIOLATION OF SUBSECTION A, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION SHALL NOTIFY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL THAT IT IS IN
VIOLATION OF SUBSECTION A. IF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
DETERMINES THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL HAS FAILED TO COMPLY WITH SUBSECTION A WITHIN
SIXTY DAYS AFTER A NOTICE HAS BEEN ISSUED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
OR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION MAY DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO WITHHOLD UP
TO TEN PER CENT OF THE MONTHLY APPORTIONMENT OF STATE AID THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE DUE THE SCHOOL
DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL ADJUST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER
SCHOOL'S APPORTIONMENT ACCORDINGLY. WHEN THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION DETERMINES THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH
SUBSECTION A, THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL RESTORE THE FULL AMOUNT OF STATE AID PAYMENTS TO
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL.
C. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL PAY FOR ALL EXPENSES OF A HEARING CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO THIS
SECTION.
D. ACTIONS TAKEN UNDER THIS SECTION ARE SUBJECT TO APPEAL PURSUANT TO TITLE 41, CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE 10.
E. THIS SECTION SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT:
1. COURSES OR CLASSES FOR NATIVE AMERICAN PUPILS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW.
2. THE GROUPING OF PUPILS ACCORDING TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING CAPABILITY IN THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THAT MAY RESULT IN A DISPARATE IMPACT BY ETHNICITY.
3. COURSES OR CLASSES THAT INCLUDE THE HISTORY OF ANY ETHNIC GROUP AND THAT ARE OPEN TO ALL
STUDENTS, UNLESS THE COURSE OR CLASS VIOLATES SUBSECTION A.
4. COURSES OR CLASSES THAT INCLUDE THE DISCUSSION OF CONTROVERSIAL ASPECTS OF HISTORY.
F. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT THE INSTRUCTION OF THE HOLOCAUST,
ANY OTHER INSTANCE OF GENOCIDE, OR THE HISTORICAL OPPRESSION OF A PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE BASED
ON ETHNICITY, RACE, OR CLASS.
The U.S. Declaration of
Independence Says…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes
destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and
to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness.”
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Audism & Racism
Comparing two “isms”
Record behaviors, events or comments that could be considered part of one of the “isms” in the appropriate
circle. In the center, record a person’s attitudes or views that are common to any “ism”.
Racism
Audism
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Audism: Justifications or Excuses?
If a person or institution exhibit signs of audism or racism, how might or might not these be justified? Are there “good”
reasons for restricting or oppressing a group of people’s language use or the curriculum that is taught to groups of
students? How might these reasons outweigh an individual’s rights to self-expression, need for autonomy, or curiosity
about a broader view of history or the world?
Record at least four events from the information
you have received in the readings above that
could be considered audist. Whether valid or
Justification/Excuse
Justification/Excuse
not in your opinion, explain how the people or
institutions exhibiting audism justified or
excused their behavior or statements.
Examples of Audist views throughout U.S. deaf history
Justification/Excuse
Justification/Excuse
Links to Websites That Explain or
Give Examples of Audism
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•
•
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Gallaudet University FAQ:Audism
VAWnet
About.com:Deafness
Wikipedia
Mfeedia/audism-television
Deafhoodfoundation
Keynote by Paddy Ladd: Deafhood