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1000 BCE
Hebrew Law denies Deaf Rights
The torah prevented deaf people from participating in Temple rituals, they had no property rights, and they couldn't be witnesses in court. -
427 BCE
Philosophy of Innate Intelligence/Plato
Plato determined that all intelligence is present at birth and that speech is the representation of intelligence so deaf people must not be capable of ideas or language. -
355 BCE
Ancient Greeks Deny Deaf Education/Aristotle
Deaf people weren't educated because it was thought that you need hearing to learn. Greek was thought to be the perfect language and those who can't speak Greek were considered Barbarians so deaf people were considered barbarians. -
345
Early Christians see Deafness as Sin/St. Augustine
Deaf children were seen as a sign of God's anger towards the sins of their parents. Deaf people were put in asylums and thought to be possessed by demons. -
476
Middle Ages/Englightenment Begins
It was thought that people born deaf couldn't be "saved" because they couldn't hear the word of God so they were banned from churches -
May 9, 1500
First Attempts at Educating the Deaf/Geronimo Cardano/Pedro Ponce de Leon
Geronimo was the first to see that deaf people could reason and taught his son a symbolic code. He believed in teaching the deaf a written language. Pedro the monk created a sign system to get around the monk vow of silence. He taught this to deaf people. -
Juan Pablo Bonet
An advocate of early sign language. Wrote the first well-known book of manual alphabetic signs for the deaf in 1620. -
Martha's Vineyard
Settled by 200 immigrants from Kent County England, an area known as “the Weald”. Carried dominant and recessive genes for deafness. The students that went to the deaf school brought island signs with them and influenced FSL in its change to ASL. -
Oral Education
Samuel Heinicke was a German oral teacher of the deaf. He had students feel his throat to teach them to speak. His techniques were called the German Method -
French Sign Language Established
Charles Michel De L’Eppe was "the father of sign language and deaf education". He taught deaf people with sign and published a dictionary of French Sign Language. -
England 1760/Braidwood
Thomas Braidwood opened first school for the deaf in England -
Germany 1777/Arnoldi
Arnoldi, a German pastor, believed education of the deaf should begin as early as four years -
Rome 1784/Abba Silvestri
Abba Silvestri opened first school for the deaf in Italy in Rome -
First American Deaf School Founded
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet traveled to France and met Laurent Clerc who went back to America to establish the school. After this many sign-based deaf schools opened up in America. Alice Cogswell was TH Gallaudet's inspiration to teach the deaf. -
New York School for the Deaf established
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Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
It was established. -
Kentucky School for the Deaf
It was established. -
Ohio School for the Deaf
It was established. -
Virginia School for the Deaf
It was established. -
Golden Age of Deaf Education
between 1840-1912 American Sign Language flourishes. Approximately 40% of all teachers are Deaf -
Many Deaf Schools established
More than 30 schools for the Deaf were established by Deaf and hearing teachers from the American School for the Deaf and Gallaudet College, including schools in Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas.1843-1912 -
A Deaf state is Proposed
John Flournoy, a former pupil of the Connecticut school, proposed to Congress that there be a deaf state with land set aside in the western territories for the creation of a deaf state. Here they could control their own schools and have their own government -
Gallaudet College Opens
Abe Lincoln signs the charter for the Washington, D.C. based deaf school. National College for the Deaf and Dumb was the only accredited facility for the deaf in the U.S. to offer college degrees. Edward Miner Gallaudet, son of TH Gallaudet, was the first president. -
Alexander Graham Bell Promotes Deaf Education
Telephone inventor who began his career as a deaf educator. Mother was hard of hearing. Father promoted a teaching method for the deaf called “visible speech”. -
Bell's Deaf School
n Boston, a school opens and concentrates on oral methods of instruction. The school receives heavy opposition from deaf schools using manual sign language. Bell eventually gives up administering deaf education and focuses on a contraption that mechanizes speech. In 1876, he invents the telephone. Armed with wealth and recognition, he goes on to found the Volta Bureau to promote oral- based education for deaf children. -
The Connference of Milan Endorses Oral Education
In a move with repercussions well into the future, this international gathering of deaf educators pronounces oral education methods superior to manual communications systems. -
Helen Keller
Helen is born in Tuscambia, Alabama. She is taught at home by her friend and teacher Annie Sullivan and later at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Mass. Helen graduated from Radcliffe College. She – lost both her hearing and sight at 19 months. -
Deaf Players make changes in Baseball and Football Rise of Oralism
In 1901, baseball’s American League gets its first grand slam thanks to William “Dummy” Hoy, a deaf player. In the 1920s, Gallaudet University’s football team keeps its plays a secret by hiding signed instructions in a huddle formation. Soon, other teams are huddling up too, and a football tradition is born. -
Women are admitted to the National Deaf-Mute College (Gallaudet)
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Electric 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. Alexander Graham Bell reportedly develops an earphone for amplifying sound, but he never pursues a patent. -
National Deaf-Mute College became Gallaudet College
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Deaf Employment Skyrockets
While deaf people are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military during World War I and World War II, wartime labor shortages provide many new job opportunities for deaf people. -
Oralism in America is at its zenith
Only 15% of teachers are Deaf. -
World War Two creates a need for labor
World War Two creates a need for labor. Deaf men and women are hired in record numbers to work in defense industries. Many relocate to work in factories in California, Ohio, New York and Washington, DC. Many employers note the abilities of Deaf workers for the first time. -
First Linguistic book and defense of ASL as a language by William Stoke
ASL is a language -
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.” Many in the deaf community applaud this report, and view it as a clear acknowledgment of the superiority of manual communication and education. -
Bernard Bragg
Bernard Bragg, a deaf actor and mime, stars in “The Silent Man”, a TV program in California. Bragg, a graduate of the Fanwood School for the Deaf in White Plains, New York was a co-founder of the National Theater of the Deaf and has toured America with his one-man show -
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 -
Total Communication Leads to mainstreaming
Two historically divergent education methods converge, at least in theory, as Total Communication, a combination of manual and speech-based instruction for the deaf is developed and promoted. Formulated in the early 1960’s by a mother dissatisfied with oral-based attempts to teach her deaf daughter, the Total Communication system gains grassroots support and becomes the foundation for a new approach to deaf education within public school systems. -
Signed English, Seeing Essential Englis, and SEE II methods
Signed English, Seeing Essential English and SEE II methods are developed in order to create a manual code for English that can be used to supplement the Oral method. These sign systems are to be used simultaneously with speech to promote the development of English skills. -
Program Captioning Introduced
The Caption Center at WGBH in Boston open captions “The French Chef” the country’s first nationally broadcast captioned program. It airs on PBS. By 1980 Close Captioning is developed and the first show broadcast. Close Captioning hides the text from view unless the user has a decoding device. By 1993, the FCC requires that all newly manufactured televisions have the decoding chip. -
Disabled Gain Right to Equal Access
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 includes a section requiring that the disabled be given access and equal opportunity to use the resources of organizations that receive federal funds or that are under federal contracts. -
Census- National Association of the Deaf conducted census of deaf Americans
counted 13.4 million hearing and 1.8 million deaf Americans. -
Public Law 94-142
By 1975, Public Law 94-142, is passed requiring handicapped children in the U.S. be provided with free and appropriate education, allowing many to be mainstreamed into regular public schools, where they receive special instruction but interact with the general school population. Mainstreaming is accepted as current educational philosophy. Number of Deaf teachers drops to its lowest point – 11%. -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is passed
The law requires that all businesses, colleges and organizations which have federal contracts or receive federal funds be open and accessible to physically disabled persons. -
The Signs of Language Klima and Bellugi
First Linguistic research on ASL -
Silent Network- A Deaf Cable Channel
Broadcasting in 1981 with only 2 million homes. By 1990, 14 million homes have access to the program. The network operated 24-hours a day, seven days a week. -
Deaf Mosaic begins broadcasting from Gallaudet university Television Studios in Washington, D.C.
The program, which ended production in 1995, won Emmy awards for the producers and hosts Mary Lou Novitisky and Gil Eastman. -
Cochlear Implants Approved
The cochlear implant is approved for clinical trials in people 18 and older. The implant bypasses the bones of the inner ear, placing electrodes directly into the cochlea, where sound waves are absorbed and interpreted by the auditory nerve. The cochlear implant 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 the movie “Children of a Lesser God.” -
'Deaf President Now' Protest Held
Students and faculty at Gallaudet University protest the selection of another hearing president. The ‘Deaf President Now’ protest continues for one week, with multiple rallies, press conferences and marches. After eight days of student protests, I. King Jordan is named the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. Congress recommends that ASL be used as the primary language for the Deaf, with English as a second language. -
"Signing Naturally" Curriculum published
written and produced by Deaf authors Ella Mae Lentz and Ken Mikos -
"Unlocking the Curriculum" published by the Gallaudet University Linguistics Department
This proposes a return to ASL as the first method of instruction for Deaf children. It refutes the Manually Coded English approaches, using speech and sign. -
Congressional Report published "Toward Equality: Education of the Deaf"
Report recommends that ASL be used as a primary medium of language instruction with English as a second language. Also recommends that ASL be included in the Bilingual Education Act. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) investigates the possibility of adding ASL and Deaf children to the Bilingual Education Act, but again it is not approved because of the status of hearing parents and questions regarding ASL as a foreign language. -
Americans with Disabilities Act passed
Discriminatory practices and obstacles to accessibility for the handicapped are both outlawed. The law has a huge impact on the wheel chair dependent, and also requires greater communications, education, and employment opportunities for the deaf. In keeping with the ADA, caption decoder chips are required in television sets larger than 13″. -
Deaf Schools Termed "Restrictive"
The 1972 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is re-adopted and amended to recommend that disabled students should attend schools with the “least restrictive environment.” Residential deaf schools are struck a blow as they become labeled the “most restrictive environment.” Enrollment plunges, and some schools close their doors. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is passed
U. S. Department of Education establishes a Policy of Inclusion, giving all disabled students the right to attend neighborhood schools in a “least restrictive environment.” Residential schools for the Deaf are labeled “most restrictive environment.” Policy of assimilation into society is the goal of IDEA. Residential schools for the Deaf in some states are forced to close because of decreasing enrollment. -
First Deaf Miss America Crowned
Heather Whitestone, an orally educated deaf woman from Birmingham, Alabama, wins the coveted crown. -
Use of cochlear implants increases. Nucleus 22 device and SPEAK Speech Processing system (developed at the University of Melbourne, Australia) are the latest technological advances in implantation
Adults and Children severely to profoundly Deaf, age two and above are considered candidates. Many parents opt for cochlear implants and mainstreamed education as an educational plan for their Deaf children. -
The FCC released new captioning rules for the broadcast and cable television industry
These new rules now require 100% of cable television to be captioned within eight years, and require real-time captioning for many local news programs. The FCC has revised its rule to require that 100% of new programming must be captioned, beginning Jan. 1, 2006 -
Deaf contestant competed on reality TV show "Survivor"
Christy Smith, Athletic Deaf Woman and alumnus of Gallaudet University competed on reality TV show “Survivor” -
Deanne Bray
F.B.Eye on the Pax channel. Bray grew up deaf since birth (May 14, 1971) and uses one hearing aid. Bray was involved with deaf theater (Deaf West Theatre). -
Curtis Pride
Deaf Professional Baseball Player. Born in the Washington, DC metro area, deaf at birth from rubella. He grew up oral. -
"Dancing With The Stars"
Marlee Matlin competes in “Dancing With The Stars” -
Switched at Birth
Switched at Birth is an American television series that premiered on ABC Family on June 6, 2011. The one-hour scripted drama revolves around two teenagers who were switched at birth and grew up in very different environments. The series’ debut was the highest-rated show debut for ABC Family to date. According to ABC Family, it is “the first mainstream television series to have multiple deaf and hard-of-hearing series regulars and scenes shot entirely in ASL [American Sign Language]. -
Switched at Birth airs entire episode in ASL
Switched at Birth airs an entire episode using only ASL with captions for the audience unfamiliar with sign language. This is a “first” for network television and draws a record-breaking audience. The episode centers around a protest inspired by the historic 1988 “Deaf President Now” protest at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. in which students, alumni and staff barricaded and occupied the campus until their demand for a deaf university president was heard and met.
