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Period: 345 BCE to 550 BCE
Early Christians See Deafness as Sin
St. Augustine tells early Christians that deaf children are a sign of God's anger at the sins of their parents. Meanwhile, Benedictine monks take vows of silence to better honor God. To communicate necessary information, they develop their own form of sign language. -
Period: 384 to 322
Ancient Greeks Deny Deaf Education
The philosopher Aristotle claims that "Deaf people could not be educated [since] without hearing, people could not learn." -
Period: 1500 to
Deaf Education Develops
The physician Geronimo Cardano of Padua, Italy, attempts to teach his deaf son using a code of symbols. Pedro Ponce de Leon, a Benedictine monk, successfully teaches speech to people deaf since birth. -
First Book of Manual Alphabetic Signs for the Deaf Written
uan Pablo Bonet, an advocate of early sign language, writes the first well-known book of manual alphabetic signs for the deaf in 1620. -
French Sign Language Established
A French priest, Charles Michel De L'Eppe, establishes the first free public school for the deaf in France. De L'Eppe tries to develop a bridge between the deaf and hearing worlds through a system of standardized signs and finger spelling. -
French Sign Language Dictionary Published
Charles Michel De L’Eppe publishes a dictionary of French sign language. -
First American School for the Deaf Founded
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American interested in deaf education, travels to Europe where he meets the Archbishop Roche Sicard, the author of "Theory of Signs,” and successor to De L’Eppe. Sicard sends one of his instructors, Laurent Clerc, and the pair found the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. -
First College for the Deaf is Established
The Enabling Act is signed by President Abraham Lincoln and Gallaudet College Opens. 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. -
Period: to
Alexander Graham Bell Promotes Deaf Education / Discourages Sign Language
In 1872, he opens a school in Boston that concentrates on oral methods of instruction for teachers of the deaf. A period of upheaval in deaf education begins with a backlash against sign language. -
Electrical Hearing Aid Invented
While early hearing aids are not easy to use (most weigh several pounds and must be placed on a desk), the carbon-based microphones, powered by large three-and six-volt batteries, give hearing-impaired people truly amplified sound for the first time. -
Closed Caption Mandated
President Dwight Eisenhower signs PL 85-905 establishing Captioned films for the Deaf. -
Sign Language Declared a Legitamate Language
Stokoe publishes his findings about sign language as a legitimate language. In 1965 a Dictionary of ASL on Linguistic Principles is published. -
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. -
Oral Deaf Education Labeled 'Failure'
Congress issues the Babbidge Report on oral deaf education and concludes that it has been a "dismal failure." -
Program Captioning Introduced
The Caption Center at WGBH in Boston open captions "The French Chef" the country's first nationally broadcast captioned program. -
Deaf Students Guaranteed a Free, Appropriate Public Education
On November 29th President Ford signs PL 94-142 into law. The law guarantees each disabled child to receive a free, appropriate public education. -
Cochlear Implants Approved
Robin Michelson and Melvin Bartz first invented cochlear implants in 1960, and they were finally approved for clinical trials in people 18 and older in 1985. The device is a mechanical prosthesis of sorts for the inner ear. It bypasses the bones of the inner ear, placing electrodes directly into the cochlea, where sound waves are absorbed and interpreted by the auditory nerve. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
President George H.W Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into Law, protecting the right of the disabled to education, employment, accessible buildings, and other reasonable accommodations. The law requires greater communications, education, and employment opportunities for the Deaf.