History of deaf education

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The Deaf community over time has worked to improve the educational system for those who are Deaf and hard of hearing. The history of Deaf education dates back to Ancient Egypt where the deaf were respected and revered. In contrast, those who were deaf in Ancient Greece were considered a burden to society and put to death. The educational aspects of the deaf community has evolved tremendously and still continues to grow as the science of linguistics, educational research, new technologies, and laws, on local, national, and international levels are steadily being introduced. Strategies, however, remain controversial.

Contents

Ancient Egypt

During the BC era, the disabled were not harmed or killed by the Egyptians despite the fact that they had birth defects. This is because the Egyptians lived by a philanthropic way of life. Many of the disabled citizens displayed talents that were not easily acquired. The deaf were thought to have been selected by the gods due to their peculiar behavior. This behavior was a direct result of their auditory disabilities and stressed desire to communicate. They were treated respectfully and educated, usually through the use of hieroglyphs and signing gestures. [1]

Ancient Greece

Sign language was first documented in ancient Greece. In one of Plato's dialogues he describes how the deaf used gestures to mimic moving objects through similar motions. Plato quotes his teacher Socrates in the Cratylus as follows: "if we had neither voice nor tongue, and yet wished to manifest things to one another, should we not, like those which are at present mute, endeavor to signify our meaning by the hands, head, and other parts of the body?....I think, therefore that if we wished to signify that which is upwards and light, we should raise our hands towards the heaven, imitating the nature of the thing itself; but that if we wished to indicate things downwards and heavy, we should point with our hands to the earth..." [2] Unlike ancient Egypt, the Greeks felt it was better to kill anyone with a disability. The deaf were especially considered a burden in Athens, where it was believed that anyone who would be a "burden to society" should be put to death. The city of Athens felt that ending the lives of those impaired was in the best interests of the state. This was because war and conflict occurred continuously and certain abilities were considered important to have. Everyone was meant to serve the state. [1] Philosopher Aristotle along with Greek physician Galen concluded that the deaf could never speak, believing that the ability to speak and hear were linked; being derived from the same area in the brain. Galen, feeling that if one capability was impaired the other would be impaired also, was considered to be correct. Additionally Aristotle's views, which were similarly related to Galen's, were also viewed as accurate and this idea went unchallenged until the sixteenth century A.D. [1]

16th century

Pedro Ponce de Leon, a Spanish Benedictine monk

During the mid-sixteenth century brothers Pedro and Francisco Fernandez Velasco y Tovar, were sent to live in a monastery by the name of Ona where they were under the guidance of Pedro Ponce de Leon. The two brothers belonged to one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Spain. At that time, the noble families sent their disabled children to monasteries because it was believed that the children's disabilities were directly related to the sins of the parents. For this reason, the families hid their children because they were ashamed. During this time ten percent of children born to noble families were deaf. This was because noble families in Spain during this time married their blood relatives to keep the wealth within the family. The Velasco boys were placed under the care of Ponce because of their attachment to him when they arrived at the monastery. Ponce himself had become attached to the boys and decided to educate them. [3] Many critics credit Ponce with being the first person to educate the deaf, but it is stated by Van Cleve in Deaf History Unveiled that he was in fact not the first person to educate the deaf but the first person to teach the deaf to speak. He then argues that a monk from La Estrella, whose name is not given, is the first person that should be credited with educating the deaf. [4] Contrastingly in the History of Deaf People written by Per Eriksson, he credits St. John of Beverley with being the first person to educate the deaf. St. John was the bishop of York, England around 700 A.D. He is considered the first to disagree with Aristotle's opinion of a deaf person's ability to learn. [1]

Sign language

Communication came from both the homes of the deaf in addition to the monasteries they were sent to. [1]

19th century

Advocates

Thomas Fox was born on November 16, 1859. He became deaf at age ten after having spinal meningitis. Soon after his parents enrolled him in the New York School for the Deaf in which he became a part of the deaf community. After leaving the New York School for the Deaf he enrolled in Gallaudet College in 1879. During his time at Gallaudet, Fox went to a meeting for the National Association of the Deaf. While at this meeting Fox became a promoter of deaf values. This was due to the offensive preconceptions against deaf people made in an attempt to remove certain cultural aspects of the deaf community. However, the specifics of the criticisms were not mentioned in detail. Fox wanted deaf schools to remain active, along with the job availability for deaf instructors and language interpretation within the classes. After graduating from Gallaudet he returned to his grade school in New York to teach. After his retirement he remained involved in the school's activities until his death in 1945. [5]

20th century

Equality

During the early 1900s membership to various deaf organizations was denied to African Americans. Associations and even some churches prevented African Americans from becoming members including the National Association of the Deaf and the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf. There were fewer people to relate to who shared the same ethnic background and many of the Caucasian deaf leaders made no attempt to improve the quality of the black deaf community. During this time racism was more prevalent and there were perhaps shared views of the blacks by both hearing and deaf white males. Because of this National Black Deaf Advocates was formed. In addition discrimination was also made against deaf women. Colleges produced more male graduates than female, and deaf females were completely excluded or had only limited access to various club affiliations. They were also given easier workloads by teachers. Associations at national and state levels had no or only small amounts of actual participation by women. Women were often allowed to give their opinions or share their ideas for support of the preservation of sign language and the deaf community, but they did not hold any authoritative positions that allowed them to make decisions on behalf of the deaf community. Even though they had a tough time being heard, deaf women still continued to seek involvement in language and cultural preservation. They eventually begin to establish their own clubs and organizations in which they expressed their ideas and views on issues concerning the deaf community. Associations such as the Camp Fire Girls at state schools and the OWLs at Gallaudet College were formed in support of deaf women of Caucasian ethnicity.[ dubious – discuss ]

Cochlear implant

The cochlear implant is a device surgically implanted in the skull that provides stimulation to the nerve to promote hearing. It is a prosthetic with wires attached to the cochlea and is located behind the ear. The cochlear implant has a microphone, connecting cables, a speech processor, and a battery. The processor converts sounds into electrical impulses by taking information from sound patterns and producing an electrical pulse in the ear of the host. Although the implant does provide an artificial means by which its hosts can hear, this is not the same as a hearing aid because it does not elevate sound. With this implant, sounds are not the same as sounds that a hearing person experiences. Teaching recipients to understand the sounds they hear takes years and there is no guarantee they will be able to make sense of the information. Therefore, the cochlear implant is not able to give all deaf people hearing and speech. [6]

Economic/Job opportunities

During the mid to late 20th century, a study showed that two-thirds of American adults with disabilities did not have a job. It was also found that around eighty percent of those unemployed had the desire to work. Employers often said they did not provide adequate accommodations for those with disabilities. They were also unsure if they could trust those persons with disabilities to perform requested tasks correctly. In response to these problems the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was ratified. This attempted to reduce discrimination against those with disabilities in both private and governmental business sectors. Furthermore, the ADA placed the responsibility of providing needed accommodations on the employer. [7]

Efforts around the world

China

Since more individuals with disabilities live in China than any other country in the world, special education has become an important area of focus. China once had great ideological resources in this field; yet, the schools for disabled people created in the late nineteenth century were established by Western missionaries. Since the late nineteen hundreds the legislation has expressed its concern and made efforts to encourage the progress of special education in China. [8]

Canada

In Canada, efforts have been made to adopt a bilingual-bicultural model of education, using American Sign Language (ASL) as its standard language for instruction. It is assumed that this approach will lead to an enhancement in learning, expression and achievement in deaf students. [9]

Australia

National and worldwide legislation has focused an increasing amount of attention on the values of inclusion. This attitude is geared toward those with disabilities. Inclusive education has been accepted and implemented to prevent and reduce biased attitudes concerning students with disabilities. UNESCO's education policy was approved at the Salamanca Conference in 1944 and establishes the privilege to education for all disabled students. It has been considered a basic human right despite the fact that disabled students will need adequate accommodations. The international focus has been placed on the Rights of Children (1989) as well. World leaders have made a commitment to find ways to increase the number of children who attend school. In result the national policies have been impacted by these developments. In Australia, the viewpoint of education has been modeled after those international trends. Australia has made efforts to see that all of their students are educated. Moreover, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 has played an important role in support of education for disabled people as well. [10] Australia has presented itself as a country in great support of human rights. This act was implemented with the intent to secure the rights of disabled people. Additionally the Disability Discrimination Act has three key purposes: to discourage discrimination, to promote equality for disabled people before the law, and to insure the acceptance of disabled people by communities. [11]

Africa

South Africa's constitution and the Integrated National Disability Strategy along with other legislation claims to be one of the most proactive methods in support of the disable. Yet, most of the sentimentality does not exceed policy level and the enforcement of these guidelines has trailed far behind. [12]

ASL training

American Sign Language (ASL) is used in both the United States and in English speaking parts of Canada. Although it is produced with gestures and seen with the eyes. Because ASL does not require the use of voice or the ability to hear, it is used by deaf people, as well as people who have trouble communicating through spoken language, whether due to physical limitations or due to intellectual disabilities. Sign language is not globally consistent; instead it is similar to other languages in that the signs used in various sign languages are regional and steeped in culture. Though English is spoken in both Great Britain and the United States, American Sign Language and British Sign Language are in fact rather dissimilar. ASL actually has greater similarity to French Sign Language because American Sign Language has its origin in French Sign Language, but today, they are distinctive and different from one another. A common misunderstanding is that ASL can be directly translated to the English language. This is false, because English and American Sign Language do not share the same grammar or syntax. Contrary to what has been presumed sign languages do have a specific format. They are not just different signs representing a word combined to create speech. As oral languages have a particular format in which the words are presented, sign languages has its own format as well. Just as errors are made in the English language with a slight mispronunciation or mistaken letter arrangement, ASL can have the same errors with just a slight difference in gestures that are similar. This does not mean that grammar rules of oral language is in any way directly related to that of sign language, but the same concept can be taken into account. Although we can compare the processes of developing ASL with that of the spoken English language the difference between the two must be recognized. The qualitative factor of ASL is much different from English in form. The largely sequential phonetic structure of oral languages, with relatively few suprasegmental features, contrasts with a greater degree of simultaneity in sign languages. Sign languages have four simultaneously realized parameters: hand configuration, location, movement and orientation. [13] Hand configuration, location and movement are what determine what is being signed. A simple combination of words can differ in just location, movement, or the way in which you hold your hand as you are signing. [13]

Preservation of sign language

The deaf community made continuous efforts to help preserve sign language communication as oralists made many attempts to suppress the language and promote oral communication. The attempt to supplant sign language, by the hearing, lead to the production of dictionaries and films intended to expose and promote sign language in the oral community as well as the deaf. Many deaf people spent most of their free time socializing with their deaf peers and joined clubs within the deaf community after graduating from school. Their efforts continued in the promotion of the preservation of sign language.

See also

Bibliography

Collins, M. T. (1995). History of Deaf-Blind Education. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 89(3).

Kemaloğlu, Y. K. ; Kemaloğlu, P. Y (2012 ). "The history of sign language and deaf education in Turkey" . The Turkish Journal of Ear Nose and Throat: 65-76

Macherey, Oliver; P. Carlyon, Robert (2014). "Cochlear Implants". Science Direct.

Marschark, Marc; Spencer, Patricia Elizabeth (2010). "The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education". Oxford University Press.

Osgood, Robert L. (2008). "The History of Special Education: A Struggle for Equality in American Public Schools". Praeger

Related Research Articles

The three models of deafness are rooted in either social or biological sciences. These are the cultural model, the social model, and themedicalmodel. The model through which the deaf person is viewed can impact how they are treated as well as their own self perception. In the cultural model, the Deaf belong to a culture in which they are neither infirm nor disabled, but rather have their own fully grammatical and natural language. In the medical model, deafness is viewed undesirable, and it is to the advantage of the individual as well as society as a whole to "cure" this condition. The social model seeks to explain difficulties experienced by deaf individuals that are due to their environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf culture</span> Culture of deaf persons

Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label especially within the culture, the word deaf is often written with a capital D and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. When used as a label for the audiological condition, it is written with a lower case d. Carl G. Croneberg coined the term "Deaf Culture" and he was the first to discuss analogies between Deaf and hearing cultures in his appendices C/D of the 1965 Dictionary of American Sign Language.

Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues, in different locations near the mouth to convey spoken language in a visual format. The National Cued Speech Association defines cued speech as "a visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth movements and speech to make the phonemes of spoken language look different from each other." It adds information about the phonology of the word that is not visible on the lips. This allows people with hearing or language difficulties to visually access the fundamental properties of language. It is now used with people with a variety of language, speech, communication, and learning needs. It is not a sign language such as American Sign Language (ASL), which is a separate language from English. Cued speech is considered a communication modality but can be used as a strategy to support auditory rehabilitation, speech articulation, and literacy development.

Oralism is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech. Oralism came into popular use in the United States around the late 1860s. In 1867, the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, was the first school to start teaching in this manner. Oralism and its contrast, manualism, manifest differently in deaf education and are a source of controversy for involved communities. Oralism should not be confused with Listening and Spoken Language, a technique for teaching deaf children that emphasizes the child's perception of auditory signals from hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Audism as described by deaf activists is a form of discrimination directed against deaf people, which may include those diagnosed as deaf from birth, or otherwise. Tom L. Humphries coined the term in his doctoral dissertation in 1975, but it did not start to catch on until Harlan Lane used it in his writing. Humphries originally applied audism to individual attitudes and practices; whereas Lane broadened the term to include oppression of deaf people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Fernandes</span> American educator

Jane Fernandes is a Deaf American educator and social justice advocate. As of August 2021, Fernandes is the President of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She previously served as president of Guilford College from 2014 to 2021.

In the United States, deaf culture was born in Connecticut in 1817 at the American School for the Deaf, when a deaf teacher from France, Laurent Clerc, was recruited by Thomas Gallaudet to help found the new institution. Under the guidance and instruction of Clerc in language and ways of living, deaf American students began to evolve their own strategies for communication and for living, which became the kernel for the development of American Deaf culture.

Singapore Sign Language, or SgSL, is the native sign language used by the deaf and hard of hearing in Singapore, developed over six decades since the setting up of the first school for the Deaf in 1954. Since Singapore's independence in 1965, the Singapore deaf community has had to adapt to many linguistic changes. Today, the local deaf community recognises Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) as a reflection of Singapore's diverse linguistic culture. SgSL is influenced by Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL), British Sign Language(BSL), Australian Sign Language(Auslan), American Sign Language (ASL), Signing Exact English (SEE-II) and locally developed signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf education</span> Education of the deaf and hard of hearing

Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical classroom education. There are different language modalities used in educational setting where students get varied communication methods. A number of countries focus on training teachers to teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to aid deaf students.

The history of deaf education in the United States began in the early 1800s when the Cobbs School of Virginia, an oral school, was established by William Bolling and John Braidwood, and the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, a manual school, was established by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. When the Cobbs School closed in 1816, the manual method, which used American Sign Language, became commonplace in deaf schools for most of the remainder of the century. In the late 1800s, schools began to use the oral method, which only allowed the use of speech, as opposed to the manual method previously in place. Students caught using sign language in oral programs were often punished. The oral method was used for many years until sign language instruction gradually began to come back into deaf education.

Language acquisition is a natural process in which infants and children develop proficiency in the first language or languages that they are exposed to. The process of language acquisition is varied among deaf children. Deaf children born to deaf parents are typically exposed to a sign language at birth and their language acquisition follows a typical developmental timeline. However, at least 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents who use a spoken language at home. Hearing loss prevents many deaf children from hearing spoken language to the degree necessary for language acquisition. For many deaf children, language acquisition is delayed until the time that they are exposed to a sign language or until they begin using amplification devices such as hearing aids or cochlear implants. Deaf children who experience delayed language acquisition, sometimes called language deprivation, are at risk for lower language and cognitive outcomes. However, profoundly deaf children who receive cochlear implants and auditory habilitation early in life often achieve expressive and receptive language skills within the norms of their hearing peers; age at implantation is strongly and positively correlated with speech recognition ability. Early access to language through signed language or technology have both been shown to prepare children who are deaf to achieve fluency in literacy skills.

Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written with a lower case d. It later came to be used in a cultural context to refer to those who primarily communicate through sign language regardless of hearing ability, often capitalized as Deaf and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. The two definitions overlap but are not identical, as hearing loss includes cases that are not severe enough to impact spoken language comprehension, while cultural Deafness includes hearing people who use sign language, such as children of deaf adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf rights movement</span>

The Deaf rights movement encompasses a series of social movements within the disability rights and cultural diversity movements that encourages deaf and hard of hearing to push society to adopt a position of equal respect for them. Acknowledging that those who were Deaf or hard of hearing had rights to obtain the same things as those hearing lead this movement. Establishing an educational system to teach those with Deafness was one of the first accomplishments of this movement. Sign language, as well as cochlear implants, has also had an extensive impact on the Deaf community. These have all been aspects that have paved the way for those with Deafness, which began with the Deaf Rights movement.

Language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children is a delay in language development that occurs when sufficient exposure to language, spoken or signed, is not provided in the first few years of a deaf or hard of hearing child's life, often called the critical or sensitive period. Early intervention, parental involvement, and other resources all work to prevent language deprivation. Children who experience limited access to language—spoken or signed—may not develop the necessary skills to successfully assimilate into the academic learning environment. There are various educational approaches for teaching deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Decisions about language instruction is dependent upon a number of factors including extent of hearing loss, availability of programs, and family dynamics.

Treatment depends on the specific cause if known as well as the extent, type, and configuration of the hearing loss. Most hearing loss results from age and noise, is progressive, and irreversible. There are currently no approved or recommended treatments to restore hearing; it is commonly managed through using hearing aids. A few specific types of hearing loss are amenable to surgical treatment. In other cases, treatment involves addressing underlying pathologies, but any hearing loss incurred may be permanent.


Deafness in Poland refers to the Deaf communities in Poland and education around their culture and language. Poland has a recorded history of DHH people, dating back to 1817. About 15.1% of Polish people in Poland say they have hearing loss. Polski Język Migowy is the main signed language in Poland.

South Korea's Deaf population began to come to prominence in recorded history in the late 19th century with the implementation of special education. Since then, they have gained government recognition and legal rights.

Deafness in Thailand refers to the population and culture of Deaf Hard of Hearing people in Thailand. Deafness in Thailand includes language emergence, organizations, healthcare, employment, schooling, and civil rights.

The Filipino Sign Language (FSL) is the official language of education for deaf Filipinos, which number around 121,000 as of 2000.

There is limited information on the extent of Deafness in Haiti, due mainly to the lack of census data. Haiti's poor infrastructure makes it almost impossible to obtain accurate information on many health related issues, not just the hearing impaired. In 2003, the number of deaf people in Haiti was estimated at 72,000, based on a survey provided by the World Health Organization.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Eirksson, Per (1993). The History of Deaf People. Orebro Sweden: SHI Laromedel, the Learning Materials Division of the National Swedish Agency for Special Education. p. 12. ISBN   9163068222.
  2. ↑ Wright, David (1969). Deafness, a Personal Account. London: Allen Lane the Penguin Press. p. 156.
  3. ↑ Plann, Susan (1997). A Silent Minority: deaf education in Spain, 1550 -1835. London, England: University of California Press. pp. 1–10. ISBN   9780520204713.
  4. ↑ Van Cleve, John Vickrey (1993). Deaf History Unveiled . Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press. pp.  1–288. ISBN   9781563680212.
  5. ↑ Burch, Susan (2002). Signs of Resistance. New York: New York University Press. pp. 8, 9.
  6. ↑ Macherey, Oliver; P. Carlyon, Robert (2014). "Cochlear Implants". Science Direct.
  7. ↑ Scherich, Dayl L. (April 1996). "Job Accommodations in the Workplace for Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Current Practices and Recommendations". The Journal of Rehabilitation. Gale, Cengage Learning. 62 (2): 27. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  8. ↑ Young, Hanlin; Wang, HongBo (1994). "Special Education In China". The Journal of Special Education. 93-105. 28: 1–191. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  9. ↑ Mayer, Connie (1996). Can The Linguistic Interdependence Theory Support a Bilingual-Bicultural Model of Literacy Education for Deaf Students (PDF). Vol. 1. pp. 93–107. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.deafed.a014290. PMID   15579815. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-27.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ Subban, Pearl; Umesh Sharma; Monash University (2006). "PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA". International Journal of Special Education. 1. 21: 1.
  11. ↑ Tyler, Melissa Conley. Law and Change. p. 212.
  12. ↑ Glaser, Meryl (2001). Telecommunications Bridging Between Deaf and Hearing Users in South Africa. p. 2.
  13. 1 2 Frishberg, Nancy (1975). "Arbitrariness and Iconicity: Historical Change in American Sign Language". Language. Washington DC: Linguistic Society of America. 51 (3): 696–719. doi:10.2307/412894. JSTOR   412894.

[1]

    1. ↑ Mayer, Connie (1996). "Can the Linguistic InterdependenceTheory Support a Bilingual-Bicultural Model of Literacy Education for Deaf Students". Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 1 (2): 93107.
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