Deaf Oppression

What is Oppression prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control. the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control. mental pressure or distress.

Act like it doesn’t exist

Oral education The later half of the nineteenth century witnessed the rise of oral theories of deaf education. Although there are a variety of these theories, they have in common an emphasis on the importance of oral skills (Speech-reading and speech) in the education of deaf children.

Parents are encouraged not to teach their deaf children ASL, but we encourage hearing children to learn it.

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Challenges to Sign Language In the 1840’s Horace Mann challenged sign language in American schools for the deaf. Mann had traveled to Germany and learned their oral method. When he returned he insisted that American school start to implement the oral method.

Milan Congress In 1878 a meeting that was called in Paris to discuss educating deaf children. There were only 27 people in attendance. “‘Preference should be given to the method of articulation and lip-reading’ rather than to sign language and fingerspelling, in the education of deaf children.”

Milan Congress Cont. Two years later there was a larger meeting to settle the debate on deaf education. The congress consisted of 164 people from Europe and the U.S. Only one participant was Deaf.

Milan Congress Cont. There were five Americans, two were descendants of Thomas Gallaudet. They were nearly alone in the idea that deaf children should be taught using the signing method. A vote 6 to 157 declared the way to teach deaf children was the oral method.

After math… After the Milan Congress the oral method spread through the world. It was believed that ASL wasn’t a real language and that speaking a real language was more important than signing

Oppression of human rights Marriage Having Children Governing their own affairs

Audism A Negative or oppressive attitude towards deaf people by either deaf or hearing people and organizations, and a failure to accommodate them. People who have audist attitudes are considered audists. The refusal or failure to use sign language in the presence of a sign language-dependent person is considered audism.

DPN (Deaf President Now) Students at Gallaudet University had to lock down the school in order to get a Deaf president for the University. Even when they got a Deaf president he spoke English more than he signed.