History of deaf education in the United States facts for kids
The history of deaf education in the United States is a journey of how deaf children learned in schools. It began in the early 1800s with two main ways of teaching. One was the oral method, which focused on speaking and lip-reading. The other was the manual method, which used American Sign Language (ASL).
Early on, the manual method became very common in schools for deaf students. But later in the 1800s, the oral method became more popular. Students were often punished if they used sign language in schools that only taught the oral method. This oral-only approach lasted for many years. Slowly, teaching sign language started to return to deaf education.
Early Schools for Deaf Students
Before the 1800s, there were almost no schools for deaf children in America. Some rich families sent their children to schools in Europe. But most children from regular families had no chance to go to school.
First Oral Schools in the United States
In the 1700s and early 1800s, many wealthy American families sent their deaf children to Europe for school. The most famous school was the Braidwood Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland. It started in 1760 and taught students using the oral method. The school kept its teaching methods a secret.
The Bolling family from Virginia was one of the most well-known families to send their deaf children to the Braidwood Academy. Thomas Bolling and his wife had three deaf children: John, Mary, and Thomas Jr. John went to the academy in 1771, and his siblings followed later. They returned to the U.S. in 1783.
Later, the next generation of the Bolling family also had deaf children. They wanted their children to be educated in America. William Bolling met John Braidwood, a relative of the Braidwood Academy founder, in 1812. John Braidwood wanted to open a school like the one in Europe. After some challenges, the Cobbs School opened in 1815. It was an oral school. However, it closed about a year and a half later in 1816.
First Manual Schools in the United States
In 1812, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet met a young deaf girl named Alice Cogswell in New England. She inspired him to create a school for deaf children in the United States. In 1815, Gallaudet traveled to Europe to learn about teaching deaf students. He tried to learn from the Braidwood system. But the school wanted him to sign a contract to keep their methods secret. Gallaudet refused.
He then went to a lecture in France. There, he saw two successful deaf students, Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc, from the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes. Gallaudet spent several months at this school. He convinced Clerc, a deaf assistant teacher, to come back with him to Hartford, Connecticut.
In America, Gallaudet and Clerc opened the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in 1817. It was later renamed the American School for the Deaf. Gallaudet was the director, and Clerc was America's first deaf teacher. Alice Cogswell was one of the first students.
For most of the 1800s, teaching deaf children using sign language, called manualism, grew very popular. About 40% of all teachers were deaf. More than 30 schools for the deaf opened, and most used the manual method. William Willard was the first deaf superintendent in America. He founded the Indiana School for the Deaf in 1843.
Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University) was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1864. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, became its superintendent. Edward strongly believed in using sign language. He often disagreed with Alexander Graham Bell, who supported the oral method.
Before the 1860s and the American Civil War, sign language was very popular among the Deaf community. Many hearing people also supported it. They believed that sign language helped deaf people connect with their faith.
Shift to Oral Education
After the American Civil War in the late 1860s, ideas about "Survival of the Fittest" influenced deaf education. This led to more arguments for oralism. Some people believed that speech was what made humans different from animals. This made manual language seem less human-like to them.
Support for oralism grew in the late 1860s, and the use of manualism began to decline. The first oral schools opened in the 1860s. These included The New York Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes and The Clarke Institution for Deaf-Mutes (now the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech).
At this time, teaching manual language was limited. Some hearing people saw deaf people who used sign language as different or as a separate group. They felt that deaf people having their own identity was a threat to hearing society.
Oralists believed that manual language made deaf people seem "abnormal." They thought that teaching oralism would help deaf children be more "normal." Oralists strongly believed that deaf children should learn to live in the hearing world. They promoted lip reading, mouth movements, and using hearing technology. They argued that if deaf people kept using manual language, they would never fit into the rest of society.
Alexander Graham Bell was a key supporter of oralism and against sign language. He created the Volta Laboratory and Bureau in Washington, D.C., to study deafness. Other Americans like Horace Mann and Samuel Gridley Howe also encouraged opening oral schools in the U.S.
In 1880, a big meeting called the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf took place. It was an international meeting of deaf educators. Most of the people invited were oralists, so the meeting was biased. The votes strongly favored the oral method. One resolution stated that speech was better than signs for helping deaf people join society.
Early 1900s
After the Congress, deaf education in America changed a lot. Teachers who supported sign language (manualists) were often removed. They were replaced with teachers who used only the pure oral method. Deaf teachers were often replaced by hearing teachers. Most schools switched to the oral method, and few manual schools remained.
Teachers in oral schools focused on preparing deaf children for life in the hearing world. This meant teaching them English, speech, and lip-reading. Students in oral programs were forced to use the oral method. They were not allowed to use American Sign Language (ASL) in class or in public. Students caught signing were punished. Sometimes, they were made to wear white gloves tied together to stop them from signing. However, students still learned sign language from each other in secret.
Students who did not succeed with the oral method after several years were moved to manual classes. They were called "oral failures." Many people consider this time the "Dark Age of Oralism."
Edith Mansford Fitzgerald, a deaf woman, disagreed with these methods. She felt that oralism had stopped her from learning well. In 1926, she published a book called Straight Language for the Deaf: A System of Instruction for Deaf Children. Her system, the Fitzgerald Key, was used in about 75% of schools for the deaf at one point.
Teachers
In the early 1900s, there was a debate about hiring more deaf teachers in schools for the deaf. Many parents of deaf students wanted deaf teachers. They believed it would give their children role models. They wanted their children to see a possible future for themselves through their teachers.
Late 1900s
The pure oral method was used almost exclusively in deaf education for a long time in the 1900s. Then, in the late 1960s, Roy Kay Holcomb came up with the term "Total Communication." This idea meant that a deaf child should use the communication method that worked best for them.
If a child learned better with ASL or an English sign system, they were taught that way. If another method worked better for a different child, they used that. Some oral schools changed to Total Communication. Others just added sign language to their programs or allowed students to sign without punishment. Often, the "sign languages" used were Manually Coded English (MCE) systems, like Seeing Essential English or Signing Exact English. These systems used ASL signs in English word order, often with speech, a practice called Simultaneous Communication.
Deaf President Now
In 1988, students at Gallaudet University decided to take action regarding their education. The university's president announced he would resign in late 1987. By early 1988, the search committee chose three finalists for the next president. Two were deaf, Dr. Harvey Corson and Dr. I. King Jordan. One was hearing, Dr. Elisabeth Zinser.
On March 6, it was announced that Zinser, the only hearing candidate, would be the next president. Students and faculty had already been rallying for a deaf president. But on March 6, the rallies turned into a protest. Students and faculty marched, made signs, and held demonstrations. Students locked the university gates and refused to let the school open until Zinser resigned.
Under great pressure from the protesting students, Zinser resigned on March 10, the fifth day of the protest. Many students stayed on campus instead of going home for Spring Break. Two days later, on March 13, other changes happened. I. King Jordan was named the eighth president and the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. No one was punished for protesting.
Deaf President Now changed deaf education. Before the protest, very few deaf people had advanced degrees. Since the protest, more deaf people have earned doctorates and other advanced degrees. Also, schools for the deaf across America have had smaller protests where students demanded deaf leaders. New college programs for deaf students were also created in other countries. Deaf President Now affected deaf education not only in America but worldwide.
In 1990, cochlear implants were approved for children aged two and up. This greatly changed education for deaf children. More children moved from bilingual-bicultural residential schools to oral schools or regular public schools. Parents were often told not to sign with their children. It was feared that signing would slow down their speech, even though research has shown the opposite is true. This shift from residential schools to day schools and mainstreaming has caused many residential programs to become smaller.
Teachers
In recent years, the Deaf community has strongly pushed for more deaf teachers in public schools. For example, in 1991, parents in the Carlsbad Unified School District complained about the lack of deaf teachers. Many parents felt their children were not getting the best education because they lacked deaf role models. They believed that having a deaf teacher's background and understanding was very different from a hearing teacher's.
Today
Today, several different methods are used to educate deaf children in the United States.
All deaf students receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This plan explains how the school will meet the student's specific needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students with special needs get a Free Appropriate Public Education. This education should be in the Least Restrictive Environment that fits the student's needs. Government-run schools offer deaf education in various settings. These range from full inclusion in regular classes to special schools for the deaf.
Bilingual-Bicultural Education
In this method, deafness is seen as a cultural difference, not just a medical issue. In bilingual-bicultural programs, deaf children are taught ASL as their first language. Then, they learn written and/or spoken English as a second language. These programs emphasize that English and ASL are equally important languages. They help children become fluent in both.
The bilingual-bicultural approach believes that deaf children learn best visually. So, school subjects are taught in ASL and/or written English. This makes sure all deaf students can fully access the information. Since it's hard to use perfect ASL and spoken English at the same time, only one language is used at a time. Learning sign language has no risks. This approach helps prevent language deprivation. Language deprivation happens when children have limited access to both spoken and sign language.
Many bilingual-bicultural schools have dormitories. Deaf children can either go to school daily or live at the school during the week. They visit their families on weekends and holidays.
Residential Programs
A residential program is where a student lives at a school for the deaf during the week. They go home on weekends or holidays. In these programs, deaf children are fully immersed in Deaf culture. At a residential school, all students are deaf or hard of hearing. So, deaf students are not seen as different. They share "a common heritage, a common language, and a set of customs and values." People at deaf schools help pass on "Deaf folklore and folklife (jokes, legends, games, riddles, etc.)" from one generation to the next.
Deaf parents often send their deaf children to residential schools. This allows their children to be part of the Deaf community and culture. Hearing parents are sometimes hesitant because they don't want to be separated from their children. Gertrude Scott Galloway was the first deaf woman to lead a residential school for the deaf in the U.S.
Auditory-Oral and Auditory-Verbal Education
The auditory-oral and auditory-verbal methods are types of oral education. They are based on the idea that a deaf child can learn to listen and speak. Families do not need to learn sign language or cued speech. These methods are offered as communication choices. They require a lot of involvement from parents.
Children using this option might go to oral schools, like Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech. They might also be in special classrooms for deaf students in public schools. Or they could be in regular classrooms with hearing students. Some deaf children can learn to use hearing devices to speak and understand language. But this is not true for all deaf children.
So, education that is only auditory-oral can put children at risk of language deprivation. This happens when children have limited access to both spoken and sign language. Deaf children who use both signed and spoken language often speak as well as their hearing friends.
Mainstreaming and Inclusion
This method is when a deaf child attends public school in regular classes for at least part of the day. Students may get help like itinerant teachers (teachers who travel between schools), interpreters, assistive technology, note-takers, and aides.
Inclusion can have benefits. These include daily interaction with hearing students and the chance to live at home. But it can also have drawbacks. These might include feeling isolated or having limited support available.
