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Published byBerniece Ramsey Modified over 8 years ago
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Prehistoric to 1700’s
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The history of Deaf culture is very closely tied to the history of Deaf Education, since it is in schools for the Deaf that ASL and Deaf Culture are passed on from one generation to the next.
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It is suggested by many researchers in the fields of linguistics and history that man’s first attempts at communication were probably some form of visual-gestural language. Spoken language did not come until much later.
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There is very little known about the lives of Deaf people during the first 5000 years of recorded history. Census records were not kept on Deaf people, and there was almost no education of Deaf people during this time. What we do know is that Deaf people were very often considered inferior and uneducable.
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During the era B.C the disabled were not harmed or killed by the Egyptians despite the fact that they had birth defects. This is due to the fact that the Egyptians lived by a philanthropic way of life. Many of the disabled citizens displayed talents that were not easily acquired. The deaf were considered to be especially selected by the gods because of their peculiar behavior. This behavior was a direct result of their disability to hear and desire to communicate. They were treated respectfully and educated, usually through the use of hieroglyphs and gesture signs. Wikipedia [1
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The Ancient Greeks felt differently and actively sought to exterminate any child with a physical or sensory defect because they were considered a burden to society. In addition, the deaf were considered mindless since they could not speak. First occurrence of the idea that intelligence is measureable by the ability to speak. Aristotle put forth the idea that someone who cannot hear also cannot speak because the two skills were in the same part of the brain.
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The Romans felt much the same way that the Greeks did. However, there is a historical record of a deaf man, Quintus Pedius who was schooled as a painter. A very few children of wealthy families received individual tutoring. The Romans did admire and respect pantomime artists, who functioned as mediators and translators.
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During the early part of the Middle Ages, St. Augustine of Hippo, a well-known and respected theologian, put forth the idea that deaf people could not be saved because they could not hear the Word of God. This belief is adopted all over Europe and the Christian world and lasts well into the 17 th century. Those people who were born deaf and could not speak were kept at home and no attempt was made to educate them. They had no rights to own property or conduct trade. Deaf people who could speak were allowed to own property, which was important for noble families. They often intermarried, in order to keep their wealth within the family. However, this allowed several recessive genes for deafness to appear, so a number of deaf children were born into these families.
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For most people, the deaf were considered uneducable, but they were not killed, due to the benevolence of Christianity. Instead, they were kept at home and restricted to menial labor. The first recorded teacher of a deaf person was St. John of Beverley (England), who died in 721 AD. He supposedly taught a deaf beggar boy to speak.
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Deaf children of wealthy families were tutored individually Tutors were usually physicians or priests Tutoring done at a very elementary level – goal was primarily to teach communication Occurred only in a few countries, primarily Spain, Great Britain, Holland, Germany & France Rudolph Agricola, professor of philosophy at Heidelberg University taught a deaf pupil
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Beginning 1500’s, deafness and muteness are separated into two distinct defects as a result of research done by Girolamo Cardano (1501-76) of Italy He reasoned that the lack of one sense does not necessarily mean inferior intelligence Deaf people are educable
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Numerous Deaf painters were active at this time Juan Fernandez Navarrette (1526-79) of Spain Born to noble family, lost hearing at age 3 Showed great promise as a young child and trained under professional painters Called “El Mudo” (The Mute) Communicated through signs, reading, writing, and playing cards
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First fingerspelling systems developed in Spain and Italy Monasteries often devised their own sign and fingerspelling systems because of the prohibition of speech Pedro Ponce de León (1520-84) – Benedictine monk who taught deaf man to write and speak Work carried on by Juan Pablo Bonet (1579- 1629) – published a finger alphabet in 1620
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