Brief History of Deaf America Unit 12 ASL II

1817 Laurent Clerc (deaf teacher) came to US to help Thomas Gallaudet (hearing American) start America’s first school for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Sign language was used here.

What happened to the students? Graduates from this school went on to establish Deaf schools in other states. They also went on to be teachers of the Deaf.

1864 Gallaudet University (first university for the Deaf) was established by a charter signed by President Lincoln.

1880 The tide began to turn in the late 19th century. In 1880, the International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Milan, Italy adopted a resolution banning the use of Sign Language in teaching Deaf children. Speech and lip-reading became the primary educational goal.

National Association of the Deaf NAD was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880. This organization brought Deaf people together from around the country to work for their common interests and fight discrimination in schools and workplaces.

First Film First film in Sign language - George Veditz’s “Preservation of Sign Language”.

Deaf people were: ignored by the public, Underemployed, Denied driver’s licenses Not allowed to be Deaf teachers, Tax exemptions were doubled Denied sign language in education.

Dark Ages of Deaf History 1900 - 1960 Dark Ages of Deaf History

1901 National Fraternal Society of the Deaf (NFSD) was formed to provide insurance to Deaf people. Life, sickness, and accident insurance was included. They also fought to allow the Deaf to get automobile insurance.

Like “Deaf” Holocaust? During WWII, many Deaf people became “soldiers on the assembly line”, performing a large variety of jobs and demonstrating that the abilities of Deaf people can contribute to any work force.

1960 = an era of change: TTYs were invented by a Deaf man in 1964. Telecaption decoders for Tvs The National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf was founded in 1964 (leading to increased respect for, and greater proficiency within, the profession). The 1st linguistic study of ASL was published in 1965 by William Stokoe at Gallaudet University.

1960, continue… “Total Communication” gained acceptance, which lead to allowing sign language to be used in schools again. 1966, a Deaf couple wanted to adopt a foster child. The judge said the child would not have a normal home environment with the Deaf parents. NAD and other Deaf all over the US fought and supported this Deaf couple which led to the judge awarding custody of this child to the Deaf couple! The National Theatre of the Deaf first toured in 1967, spreading awareness and appreciation of ASL.

1960, continue… Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was signed into law in 1976. This law states that any institution receiving federal funds be accessible to all disabled people. Sign Language interpreting services were provided at colleges, hospitals, courtrooms, government agencies and various workplaces. 1979, “Voices” a movie that had a hearing performer in place of a Deaf character was boycotted. Since then, Deaf have been performing in plays, movies, TV shows, stages.

What is it like now? There has been phenomenal support, not only from Deaf people, but from people all over the US to make a difference in the Deaf lives. Deaf Culture is being recognized everywhere. The biggest impact was “Deaf President Now” (DPN) at Gallaudet University in 1988.

“High-Context” Deaf culture is called a “high-context” culture. The Deaf have an extensive information-sharing network among families, friends, and community members. They are involved in a host of familiar relationships.

What do they share? Knowledge Common experiences Goals and beliefs Common friends and acquaintances A common way of talking

When 2 Deaf people meet for the first time They give information about their community ties Attend to specific information and retain it.

When they meet again… They expect each other to remember their previous exchange and will begin to talk from that basis. Each will learn a little more about each other, which in turn will be remembered. This maintains continuity not only in that relationship; the information is fed back into the information-sharing network to help contextualize each person in relationship to the overall fabric of the community.