The history of deaf people and its culture makes up a bunch of deaf history. The deaf culture is an ethnocentric culture that is centered around signed language and relationships among one another. Unlike other cultures the Deaf culture is not associated with any native land as it is a global culture. Although by some, deafness maybe viewed as a disability, the Deaf-World sees itself as a language minority. Throughout the years many accomplishments have been achieved by deaf people. To name the most famous, Ludwig Van Beethoven and Thomas Alva Edison were both deaf and contributed great works to culture.
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Like most people in other language minorities, deaf people are born into it. Unlike other cultures, the Deaf culture is not associated with a native land. It is actually a culture based on relationships among people providing common ground. The deaf culture sees itself as a language minority instead of a disability group.[1]
Deaf people who know Sign Language are proud of their history. In the United States, they recount the story of Laurent Clerc, a Deaf educator, coming to the United States from France in 1816 to help found the first permanent school for deaf children in the country. In the late 1850’s there was a debate about whether or not to create a separate deaf state in the west. The idea was based off of the event when the American Congress, at that time, gave part of Alabama to the American Asylum. This deaf state would be a place where all deaf people could migrate, if chosen to, and prosper, however, this plan failed and the whole debate died.[2]
Another well-known event is the 1880 Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Milan, Italy, where hearing educators voted to embrace oral education and remove sign language from the classroom. This effort resulted in strong opposition within Deaf cultures today to the oralist method of teaching deaf children to speak and lip read with limited or no use of sign language in the classroom. The method is intended to make it easier for deaf children to integrate into hearing communities, but the benefits of learning in such an environment are disputed. The use of sign language is central to the Deaf peoples as a cultural identity and attempts to limit its use are viewed as an attack.[3]
Signed language is the most important instrument for communication between deaf people and the deaf culture. Using signed language deaf people can join social networks, local and globally, which join the deaf culture together. Signed language is actually the American Sign Language (ASL) and is what the culture is centered around. Another powerful bonding forced in the deaf culture is Athletics. Athletics open up a path to achievement where many others are shut out by prejudice due to the level playing field of certain sports. The American Athletic Association of the Deaf (AAAD) is huge help for deaf people by representing Deaf clubs and organizations throughout the entire American states.[1]
The first ever political movement in deaf history happened in 1880 in Milan, Italy and was called the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf. This first international conference consisted of deaf educators and is commonly known as "The Milan Conference". The conference held deliberations from September 6, 1880, to September 11, 1880, and declared that oral education was superior to manual education and decided to ban the use of sign language in school. Since the passage in 1880, schools in European countries and the United States have switched to using speech therapy without sign language as a method of education for the deaf.[3] The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has 22,000 direct members and is a vigorous advocate for signed language and the rights of Deaf people. The NAD helped conduct the first census of the Deaf population, it supports a legal defense fund, sponsors annual camps, and helps fight for the rights of the Deaf community.[1]