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Martha's Vineyard was an island off the coast of Massachusetts that also happened to be a deaf oasis in the 1800's. Some early Vineyard settlers carried a gene for deafness and over years of marriage, generation after generation was born with hearing loss. At one point 1 in 4 children born were deaf. Because of this sign language was developed there and became extremely popular. Deaf culture thrived. Almost everyone who lived there knew sign language, deaf or not.
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