History



Sign language is not a new thing. In fact, Schick, Marschark, Spencer, Elizabeth (2005) researched, "The earliest discussions of the development of sign language in deaf children, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century." It has been around for a lot longer in different countries, about 7,000 years from both the Western and Middle Eastern areas. At around 1815, a Protestant minister, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet left his home in the United States to travel to Europe. He met a Dr. who needed help finding ways to communicate with his daughter--who was deaf. Gallaudet traveled around Europe and met a student Laurent Clerk. The two opened an Asylym in Connecticut for the Deaf in April 1817. The school influenced the American Sign Language (ASL) and is what we use today in our schools.

The schools have adopted this curriculum and have been able to help students who are hard of hearing or deaf. Now students of all types are able to get their rightful education.