The Silent History of Deafness

by Miss Charlene

I was honored to be asked to write an article on deaf history. I love every opportunity I can to teach others about deafness. I will list some facts and history about deafness, and I also encourage all of you to do extra research on your own. This is a fascinating topic!

Unfortunately, deaf people have had a hard struggle all throughout history. Many were misdiagnosed as mentally retarded. This happened for a long time until the seventies. These deaf people had to live a life confided in homes for the mentally ill when they could have led normal lives. Times were very hard back then and they are still a struggle today.

This can be found far back in history. Aristotle the philosopher said that deaf people could not be educated and that people without hearing are incapable of learning. A lot of people accepted this saying and it became accepted for a long time. From this saying, the deaf son of King Croesus of Lydia could not be recognized as the heir to the throne.

Deafness was also recognized as "sin." St.Augustine told people that they had deaf children because God was angry at the sins of the parents. We see that in some churches today where deafness is viewed as a sin, but I want to remind everyone of the verse in Exodus 4:11:

"And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?"

During the renaissance, people started experimenting with symbols and sign language to educate the deaf. Juan Pablo Bonet wrote the very first book of alphabet sign languages for the deaf in 1620. The French were the first place that started sign language when Abbe Charles Michel de L'Epee of Paris developed a system of gestures, hand signs and fingerspelling.

Signing was also found in America by the Great Plains Indians. Although this was originally for intertribal communication, it is still surprising to see the similarities of their signs and the present signs today. In America, we have established a national sign language system called 'American Sign Language' also known as ASL. Each country has their own and it can vary slightly in different areas of each country.

The first American school for the deaf was founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Abraham Lincoln signed the charter for the college to open in Washington D.C.

(Interesting Fact: The sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial statute of Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC, Daniel Chester French, designed Lincoln's hands to sign an A on one hand, and an L on the other to pay tribute to him for having signed the federal legislation giving Galludet the authority to grant college degrees. Daniel had a deaf son and was familiar with sign language.)

The college is still standing today in Washington D.C. and another deaf college has opened in Rochester, New York called National Technical Institute for the Deaf. There are two in America today.

In the 1870's, Alexander Graham Bell experimented with the conduction of sound through electrical devices that were originally intended for deaf children to hear but he made the telephone instead. Miller Reese Hutchinson invented the first electrical hearing aid in 1901. The early versions of hearing aids were very heavy, and awkward to wear. They consisted of separate microphones, amplifier, headphones and a bulky battery. It wasn't easy to carry around. The designs improved more over the years and now we see digital and lightweight versions that can easily be hid inside the ear.

In 1920, Galludet University's football team would huddle around and sign their secret plays to each other. That started a new tradition of huddling and using hand gestures in football.

Closed captioning was established in 1972 and they are typed words that go on the bottom of the television screen. Those words tell the deaf audience what is being said in the movie. Deaf people had to buy a separate captioning box to hook up with the television for captioning, but now we have captioning and subtitles already included with the television and dvd players. We can see the symbol of a square with a CC inside on the back of movies to check if it includes closed captioning.

Marlee Matlin became the first deaf actress to win an academy award. She won the award for the movie, "Children of a Lesser God." She has performed many movies since then, including the most recent movie, "Sweet Nothing in My Ear." I recommend these movies to understand the deaf culture better!

A deaf woman named Heather Whitestone from Birmingham, Alabama won the title of Miss America in 1995. She performed ballet en pointe to the song "Via Dolorosa" as her talent in spite of being profoundly deaf. She also wrote an inspiring book about her experiences called "Listening with My Heart."

Many deaf people throughout history have made amazing accomplishments. Imagine living in a world where people thought you couldn't do anything, and then being able to enjoy the exhilaration of proving that you could. Disability is only in the mind and it is the result of not believing in yourself. We are all able, with whatever body God gives us. It has been proven many times in history.

Here is a good website to learn about all the deaf people and their amazing accomplishments.

http://www.deafpeople.com/history/index.html

Personally, I was born deaf and I come from a deaf family. My cause for deafness is hereditary and that does not happen often. I am very blessed to have a deaf family. This is my 'normal' and I wouldn't change it even if I had the chance. Many of us feel the same way.

Deafness is also the only disability that has formed it's own culture. We have our own history, our own language, characteristics, technology and things that we embrace in our 'deaf world.' It is a gift from God to enjoy a variety of cultures and meeting different people. I encourage all of you to take some time and learn about the deaf culture. There are so MANY deaf and hard of hearing people out there and it is a blessing to see more people take an interest in learning about us.

Thank you for reading this article!

And here is a fun fingerspelling guide that you can practice if you're interested in learning!

Charlene is a deaf mom of two boys, one being hard of hearing. Her heart for God shines through her life and she has the 'law of kindness' in her words. She writes for AGMinistries, and you can read more about her at 'Bring on the Rain'.

A Servant That God Has Chosen

In the last 12 years I have been involved in the deaf ministry in our church, I have come to realize what an important role I have as an interpretor. I have been so blessed by seeing the facial expressions on the faces of our deaf friends after I have interpreted a hymn, or the tears in their eyes during prayer. I am thankful that God has allowed me to serve as His messenger as I bring the words of the preacher and our special singers into a language they can understand. I wonder if Anne Sullivan realized the importance of her role in Helen Keller's life?

In 1888, Anne accompanied Helen to the Perkins Institution where they attended together, then New York City's Wright-Humasen School, then the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, and finally to Radcliffe College. Keller graduated from Radcliffe in 1904. What an amazing friend Anne was to Helen. Not only did she teacher her how to communicate, but she also served as her interpretor in college. There weren't many schools that a deaf child, or a blind child could go to, let alone a deaf-blind child. Not many people knew how to effectively communicate with them.

Anne got permission from Keller's father to keep the girl away from the rest of the family in a little house in their garden. Anne loved Helen dearly and loved her like she was her child. Her first task was to instill discipline in Helen. Keller's big breakthrough in communication came one day when she realized that the motions her teacher was making on her palm, while running cool water over her hand, symbolized the idea of "water". She then nearly exhausted Sullivan demanding the names of all the other familiar objects in her world (including her prized doll). *from Wikipedia

What a tremendous breakthrough for Helen! She finally understood what her friend Anne was telling her. Do you ever have a time when you finally understand a concept and then your hunger for more knowledge becomes so overwhelming that you just can't get enough information? This must have been such an exciting moment for Helen AND Anne! Anne was Helen's mediator with the world. Anne showed such determination and compassion to spend so much time by Helen's side through all those years. A true friend and an outstanding teacher.

There are many schools for the deaf and blind now where they can learn sign language and braille. I know I couldn't part with my children in order to send them to a deaf school, and that decision would be easy since I already know sign language. However, I do not know how to teach a child braille. Anne and Helen had something in common, they had to overcome a great challenge in their lives. We each have different challenges and sometimes they seem overwhelming. There are others who face challenges as well. Some people come to America in search of freedom, but they don't know how to speak English. Most schools now offer free ESL(English as a Second Language) classes during the summer for those individuals.

Most of us do quite well with English, have you ever considered volunteering in a class to help teach children how to speak English? You can speak to your Pastor and see if ESL can be offered to help reach those children and adults in your community. Does your church have a deaf ministry that you could be a part of? Maybe your school or homeschool co-op has someone that could teach sign language. Find out how you can be a helper to someone else in need. You could be that one person who makes a difference in another person's life.

Exodus 4:11, " And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? "(KJV) Leviticus 19:14, " Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD."(KJV) Isaiah 43:7-9, "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth."(KJV)

God has made the deaf, the blind, and the mute. We are to NOT put a stumblingblock in front of them and we are COMMANDED to bring them unto the Lord so they may be taught the message of salvation. Verse 10 says, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen:" If the Lord has placed it on your heart to learn sign language, then I invite you to visit me at The HomeSpun Life for articles and resources for the deaf ministry.


Topics of Interest: deaf, ministry, friendship, discipleship, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller