The first school for the deaf was established in France during the 18th century, in 1771 by

Charles-Michel de l'Épée Charles-Michel de l'Épée (; 24 November 1712 – 23 December 1789) was an 18th-century French philanthropic educator who has become known as the "Father of the Deaf". He founded Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, the first public sch ...

. L'Épée was the leader in establishing

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

for the deaf and is notable as the "father" of deaf education. He founded the

Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris (, ''National Institute for Deaf Youth of Paris'') is a school for the deaf founded by Charles-Michel de l'Épée, in stages, between 1750 and 1760 in Paris, France. After the death of Père Vanin in 1759, the Abbé de l'Épée was introduced ...

French Sign Language French Sign Language (, LSF) is the sign language of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in France and in French-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to ''Ethnologue'', it has 100,000 native signers. French Sign Language is related and part ...

was developed and heavily influenced by L'Épée working with deaf people who were already using their own home signs and combining those signs with new signs, which, in this time period, became known as L'Épée sign language. This French sign language became a major foundation and influence on all international sign languages, especially on

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

, which still retains much of the historical signs and signing grammatical structure that originated from France. The Cobbs School was founded in 1815 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was the first school for teaching Deaf and Mute people in the United States; however, it closed in 1816. The

American School for the Deaf American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

, in West Hartford, Connecticut, was the first school for the deaf established in the United States, in 1817, by Thomas Gallaudet, in collaboration with a deaf teacher, also from France, named Laurent Clerc with support from the well-known Hartford Cogswell family.

Alice Cogswell Alice Cogswell (August 31, 1805 – December 30, 1830) was the inspiration to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet for the creation of the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Cogswell and Gallaudet At the age of two, Cogswell became il ...

was the very first student to attend this school in 1817. Thomas Gallaudet spent time in Paris observing French Sign Language and education at The National Institute for the Deaf.

Higher Education

Gallaudet University is a private university in Washington D.C. It was founded by the youngest son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Edward Miner Gallaudet and Amos Kendall. The school began as a grammar school and was the first school for Deaf higher education. Known as the National College for the Deaf and Dumb for the first year, the name was changed to the National Deaf-Mute College until 1894 when it was changed again to Gallaudet College. It was made Gallaudet University in 1986 in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet University courses are made specifically for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, making it the only institution of high education designed that way worldwide.

External links

MBCN School for the Deaf

References

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Higher Education

See also

External links

References