From the Milan Aftermath towards the present.

 After the 1880 Milan Convention, the use of sign language declined for the next 10 years.  Many Deaf people kept the language alive by meeting each other during the social events to sign with each other, or joined NAD in their fight to save sign language.  Although Oralism won the battle…it didn’t win the war.

Linguistic Research 1970  Hearing professor at Gallaudet University  Knows no ASL (or sign language), but learned some.  Responsible for naming American Sign Language as an official language after researching the language.

 The Deaf person who created the first-ever telephone for the Deaf  It would eventually be surpassed by the creation of the TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) by Paul Taylor.

 Passed in  Banned discrimination against all disabled people who seek equal access to resources that receives federal funding.  This opened many opportunities for the Deaf

 Passed in 1990  Gives people with disabilities equal access to communication and education.  Banned discrimination when it comes to employment.  HUGE positive impact on the Deaf history.  Closed Caption decoders are required to be put on TVs that are larger than 13”.