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1000 BCE
Hebrew Law denies Deaf Rights
*Does not allow the Deaf to participate in the rituals of the Temple
*Property Rights denied to Deaf-mutes -
Period: 427 BCE to 237 BCE
Philosophy of Innate Intelligence/Plato
*Without speech, there was no outward sign of intelligence, so Deaf people must not be capable of ideas of language -
355 BCE
Ancient Greeks Deny Deaf Education/Aristotle
*Those born deaf become senseless and incapable of reason because they were not educated -
Period: 345 to 550
Early Christians See Deafness as Sin/St. Augustine
*St. Augustine tells early Christians that deaf children are a sign of God's anger at the sins of their parents
*Dark and Middle ages - Deaf individuals are committed to asylums because they were thought to be possessed by demons -
Period: 476 to May 10, 1453
Middle Ages
*People born deaf could not have faith, could not be saved and were barred from churches
*Must be able to “hear” the word of God – Punishment from God
*Enlightenment begins -
Period: May 9, 1500 to
First Attempts at Educating the Deaf/Geronimo Cardano of Padua, Italy
*First physician to recognize the ability of the deaf to reason
*Teaches his deaf son using a code of symbols
*Believes the Deaf can be taught written language
*Pedro Ponce de Leon - invents signs to circumvent "vow of silence" to communication necessary info -
Juan Pablo Bonet
*Wrote the first well-known book of manual alphabetic signs for the deaf -
Period: to
Martha's Vineyard
*Settled by immigrants from England who carried genes for deafness
*Sign language developed on the island
*Became a haven for deaf individuals and deaf culture -
Oral Education
*Samuel Heinicke - German oral teacher of the deaf who teaches speech by having the students feel his throat while he speaks
*First oral school for the deaf opens in Germany -
French Sign Language Established
*Charles Michael De L'Eppe - French priest who established first free public school for the deaf in France
*Worked to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing worlds through standardized signs and finger spelling
*Published a dictionary of French sign language -
England
Thomas Braidwood opens first school for the deaf in England -
Period: to
Deaf Education Spreads Around the World
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Germany
*Arnoldi believes education of the deaf should begin as early as 4 years old -
Rome
*Abba Silvestri opens first school for the deaf in Rome, Italy -
First American Deaf School Founded
*Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet - Travels to Europe and meets Laurent Clerc
*Both return to America and found the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut
*Alice Cogswell (Gallaudet's initial inspiration) is first to graduate from the school -
New York School for the Deaf Founded
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Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
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Kentucky School for the Deaf
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Ohio School for the Deaf
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Virginia School for the Deaf
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Period: to
"Golden Age of Deaf Education"
*ASL flourishes
*Approximately 40% of all teachers are Deaf -
Period: to
More than 30 schools for the Deaf were established by Deaf and hearing teachers from the American School for the Deaf and Gallaudet
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A Deaf State is Proposed
*John Flournoy - attended the school in Connecticut
*Proposed to Congress that there be a deaf state with land set aside so the deaf could control their schools and establish their own government -
Gallaudet College Opens
*Abe Lincoln - Signs the charter for the Washington D.C. based college for the deaf
*National College for the Deaf and Dumb - only accredited facility for the deaf in the US to offer college degrees
*Edward Miner Gallaudet - first president of Gallaudet (son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet) -
Period: to
Alexander Graham Bell Promotes Deaf Education
*Began his career as a deaf educator before inventing the telephone
*Mother was hard of hearing
*Promoted "visible speech" -
Bell's Deaf School
*Opens in Boston and concentrates on the oral method
*Bell focuses on a machine that mechanizes speech
*A period of upheaval in deaf education began with a backlash against sign language -
Period: to
The Conference of Milan Endorses Oral Education
*Pronounces oral education methods were superior to manual communication methods
*Manual education declines sharply the next 10 years
*The National Association of the Deaf is founded -
Period: to
Deaf Players Make Changes in Baseball and Football
*William "Dummy" Hoy - gets the American League's first grand slam
*Umpire hand signals are developed so Hoy can see the call from the outfield
*Huddle formation developed in football to hide the plays from the opposing team -
Women Are Admitted to the National Deaf-Mute College (Now Gallaudet)
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Electric Hearing Aid Invented
Alexander Graham Bell reportedly develops an earphone for amplifying sound, but never pursues a patent -
National Deaf-Mute College becomes Gallaudet College
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Period: to
Deaf Employment Skyrockets
*New job opportunities for deaf people because they cannot serve in the military
*Many take manufacturing jobs -
Rise of Oralism
Oralism in America is at its zenith -
Period: to
WWII Creates a Need for Labor
*Deaf men and women are hired in record numbers to work in defense industries
*Many relocate to factories in California, Ohio, New York, and Washington D.C. -
ASL is a Language
First linguistic book and defense of ASL as a language by William Stoke -
Phone for Deaf Invented
Robert Weitbrecht invents the teletypewriter (TTY), which enables deaf people to use the telephone -
Oral Deaf Education Labeled "Failure"
*Congress issues the Babbidge Report on oral education and states it was a dismal failure
*Acknowledge superiority of manual communication -
Deaf Theater Takes Shape
*Bernard Bragg - deaf actor and mime
*Stars in "The Silent Man"
*Co-Founder of the National Theater of the Deaf -
National Theater of the Deaf is Established
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Bilingual Education Act (P.L. 89-10) is Passed
ASL is not included because it is not recognized as a language -
Period: to
Signed English, Seeing Essential English, and SEE II Methods Are Developed
*Developed to create a manual code for English that can be used to supplement the oral method
*Sign systems used simultaneously with speech to promote English skills -
Program Captioning Introduced
*The Caption Center at WGBH in Boston open captions "The French Chef" - the country's first nationally broadcasted captioned program
*Closed Captioning developed in 1980 -
Disabled Gain Right to Equal Access
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 includes a section requiring the disabled be given access and equal opportunity to use the resources of organization that receive federal funds -
National Association of the Deaf Conducted Census of Deaf
*Counted 13.4 million hearing and 1.8 million deaf Americans -
Public Law 94-142
*Requires handicapped children in the US be provided with free and appropriate education, allowing for mainstreaming -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is Passed
*Requires all businesses, colleges, and organizations which have federal contacts or receive federal funds be open and accessible to physically disabled persons -
Linguistic Research
The signs of language Klima and Bellugi - first linguistic research on ASL -
Period: to
Silent Network - A Deaf Cable Channel
*A network for deaf individuals that operated 24/7 -
Deaf Mosaic
*Begins broadcasting from Gallaudet University Television Studios in DC -
Cochlear Implants Approved
*Approved for clinical trial in people 18 and older
*Stirs controversy among the Deaf -
Deaf Actress Wins Oscar
*Marlee Matlin becomes the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award for her role in "Children of a Lesser God" -
Deaf President Now Protest Held
*Students and faculty of Gallaudet University protest the selection of another hearing president
*Continues for one week
*A new deaf president is ultimately elected -
Signing Naturally Curriculum Published
*Written and produced by Ella Mae Lentz and Ken Mikos -
Unlock the Curriculum Published
*Published by the Gallaudet University Linguistics Department
*Proposes a return to ASL as the first method of instruction for deaf children -
Congressional Report Published - "Toward Equality: Education of the Deaf"
*Recommends that ASL be used as a primary medium of language instruction with English as a second language
*Recommends that ASL be included in the Bilingual Education Act -
Americans with Disabilities Act Passed
*Discriminatory practices and obstacles to accessibility for the handicapped are outlawed
*Allows for greater communication, education, and employment opportunities for the deaf -
Deaf Schools Termed "Restrictive"
*IDEA recommended that disabled students should attend schools with the "least restrictive environment"
*Deaf schools were labeled as "most restrictive environment"
*Enrollment plunges and some schools close -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is Passed
*Gives all disables students the right to attend schools in a least restrictive environment -
First Deaf Miss American Crowned
Heather Whitestone - orally educated deaf woman from Birmingham, Alabama wins the competition -
Use of Cochlear Implants Increases
*Nucleus 22 device and SPEAK Speech Processing System are the latest technological advances in implantation
*12,000 candidates have been implanted -
The Federal Communications Commission Released New Captioning Rules for the Broadcast and Cable Television Industry
*Require 100% of cable television to be captioned within 8 years and require real-time captioning for local news -
Deaf Contestant Competed on Reality TV Show "Survivor"
Christry Smith - Alumnus of Gallaudet University -
Deanne Bray
Deaf Actress and Television Star -
Curtis Pride
Deaf Professional Baseball Player -
"Dancing with the Stars"
Marlee Matlin competes on "Dancing with the Stars" -
Switched at Birth
*TV show about two teenagers who were switched at birth
*Includes multiple deaf and hard of hearing series regulars and scenes shot entirely in ASL -
Switched at Birth Airs an Entire Episode Using Only ASL
*Includes captions for the audience unfamiliar with sign language
*A "first" for network television
*Drew a record-breaking audience -
Helen Keller
*Helen Keller is born in Alabama
*Taught by Annie Sullivan -
Period: to
Total Communication Leads to Mainstreaming
*Combination of manual and speech-based instruction for the deaf is developed and promoted
*Becomes the foundation for a new approach to deaf education with public schools