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History of ASL

How did ASL get started?

Who is responsible for it's beginnings here in America?

Is signing only an American language? The history of this rich language is important because it helps us know the struggles of a people to become a culture.

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History of ASL

Prior to 1648, there was no formal attempt to educate deaf students. John Bulmer wrote a book in 1648 supporting the education of the deaf.. There were a few attempts to educate the deaf within the families structure where they lived but not in a formal educational setting.

In Italy and France, during the 1770's, Standardized Sign Language began to be developed to educate the deaf. SSL (Standardized Sign Language) .

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History of ASL

The Paris School for the Deaf was founded in 1755 by the Abbe de l'Epee.

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Abbe de l'Epee

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History of ASL

Six years later, in 1760, Thomas Braidwood opened 'Braidwoods Academy' in Edinburgh, the first school for the Deaf in Britain.

Thomas Braidwood

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History of ASL

The first public school for the deaf in any land, however, was opened at Leipsic in 1778. The vocal system of instruction was early introduced into this school. In 1792, Braidwood opened the London Asylum, the first public English school for the deaf.

London Asylum

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History of ASL

23 years later, in 1783, Thomas Braidwood moved with his family to London and established a private school, the Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Grove House, off Mare Street, Hackney.

Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb

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History of ASL

In 1792, Braidwood's kinsman, Joseph Watson was trained as a teacher of the Deaf under Thomas Braidwood and he eventually left to become the first headmaster of the first public school for the Deaf in Britain, the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Bermondsey.

In 1806, Thomas died at Hackney, London, and his daughter Isabella continued running the school.

In 1811 in both New York and Virginia, a grandson of Braidwood made unsuccessful attempts to establish schools for the deaf.

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History of ASL

Early 1800, Congregationalist church member, Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet met a young deaf girl named Alice. At the age of two years, Alice become ill with "spotted fever" (cerebra-spinal meningitis). This illness took her hearing and later she lost her speech as well.. Gallaudet was successful in teaching her a few words. Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

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History of ASL

Dr. Mason Cogswell, father of Alice, encouraged Thomas Gallaudet to open a school for the deaf.

Dr. Mason Cogswell

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History of ASL

In 1792, Braidwood's kinsman, Joseph Watson was trained as a teacher of the Deaf under Thomas Braidwood and he eventually left to become the first headmaster of the first public school for the Deaf in Britain, the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Bermondsey.

In 1806, Thomas died at Hackney, London, and his daughter Isabella continued running the school.

In 1811 in both New York and Virginia, a grandson of Braidwood made unsuccessful attempts to establish schools for the deaf.

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History of ASL

It took until 2003 for Braidwood's early use of a form of sign language, the combined system, the forerunner of British Sign Language, to be recognized as a language in its own right.

Braidwood's combined system is known among British Deaf historians as the Braidwoodian Method.

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History of ASL

Thomas Gallaudet met Sicard, Director of the Paris School for the Deaf who was touring with 2 deaf students, Jean Massieu, and Laurent Clerc. They shared their methods with Gallaudet.

Abbe Roch Sicard

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History of ASL

In 1817 Laurent Clerc returned with

Gallaudet to Hartford, Connecticut

and established "American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb".

Laurent Clerc

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History of ASL

The American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb (now the American School for the Deaf) was established as a residential school. The school created a linguistic community of Deaf people communicating in a visual mode. Laurent Clerc had taught French Sign Language (FSL) to Gallaudet, and together they provided linguistic role models for the students

"A Brief Cultural History of Deaf America" -- from A Study of American Deaf Folklore by Susan Rutherford, Ph.D. Burtonsville, MD: Linstock Press, 1993. p.3

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History of ASL

In 1819 through an act of Congress, a land grant which yielded an endowment amounting to upwards of $350,000was given to the school to develop the deaf educational system

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History of ASL

The success of Gallaudet's experiment at Hartford led to the admission there of pupils supported by legislative appropriations, from the other New England States, from South Carolina and Georgia. Dr. Gallaudet married one of his deaf pupils, Sophia Fowler, and their sons have rendered services of untold value to the nation.

Gallaudet's family at the President's home

Sophia Fowler Gallaudet

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History of ASL

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln signed a charter authorizing the conferring of college degrees by the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, which eventually became Gallaudet University.

Gallaudet's dream had become a reality.

Gallaudet University

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History of ASL

In the 18th century on Martha's Vineyard island the birth rate of Deaf People were abnormally high believed to be the result of the founder-effect. Ranging from 1 in every 155 to 1 in every 25 where the normal birth rate of Deaf people should be 1 in every 5000+.

It's believed that the Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) did not play a significant role on American Sign Language.

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History of ASL

As of 1952 the last of the Vineyard's signers had died.

"For Hearing People Only" by Matthew S. Moore and Linda Levitan. Rochester, New York: Deaf Life Press, 1993. pp.

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History of ASL

Gallaudet University hired hearing presidents because of the belief that the Deaf were handicapped.

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History of ASL

In the spring of 1988, the students at Gallaudet protested the hiring of a hearing president. Because of the students the first Deaf president I. King Jordan was hired.

I. King Jordan

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History of ASL

Many residential schools refused to allow signed language in the classroom, believing that the deaf would be better off learning to oralize their words.

Even when signs were not permitted in the classroom, the children of Deaf parents, as well as Deaf teachers and staff, would secretly pass on the language to other students

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History of ASL

Many well-meaning but misguided educators, believing that the only way for deaf people to fit into the hearing world is through speech and lipreading, have insisted that deaf children try to learn to speak English. Some have even gone so far as to tie down deaf children's hands to prevent them from signing.

Source: Signing Naturally, Lentz, Mikos, and Smith, DawnSign Press 1988, San Diego, California

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History of ASL

ASL was included for the first time in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 1960 as an autonomous language.

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ASL is NOT universal. It is, however, used in some countries like:

The Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana, Chad, Zaire, Central African Republic, Canada, Hong Kong Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Cote d'Ivoireand, Mauritania, Kenya, Madagascar, Denin, Togo, Singapore, Zimbabwe, and others, but ASL is not a universal language.

History of ASL

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Famous Deaf

American Sign Language is the 3rd most-used language in the

United States, trailing only to spoken English and Spanish.

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Famous Deaf

Heather Whitestone Miss America – 1995

Laura Redden Searing(8/5/1840—8/10/1923)Author and poet

Nellie Zabel Willhite1892—1991 Pilot

Luther Haden “Dummy” Taylor(2/21/1875—8/22/1958) Major League Pitcher

Juliette Gordon Low(10/31/1860—1/18/1927) Founder of the Girl Scouts

Robert H. Weitbrecht(4/11/1920—5/19/1983)Physicist and inventor

Heather Whitestone

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Famous Deaf

Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress who participated in Dancing with the Stars

Marlee Beth Matlin