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Deaf Time-Line: 1000B.C.-1816

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1000 B.C. - Hebrew Law (the Talmud) did not allow Deaf persons the right to ownership of property

427-347 B.C. - Plato's philosophy of innate intelligence. All intelligence was present at birth. All people are born perfect abstracts, ideas and language in their minds and required only time to demonstrate their intelligence. Without speech there was no outward sign of intelligence, so Deaf people must not be capable of ideas or language

384-322 B.C. - Aristotle's philosophy concerning deafness: "Deaf people could not be educated without hearing, people could not learn." Greek was the perfect language; all people who did not speak Greek were considered Barbarians. Deaf equals barbarian.

354-430 A.D. - St. Augustine's Guilt Trip - sins of parents were visited on their children; therefore "afflicted'' children was a sign of God's anger or punishment for secret sins

530 - Benedictine Monks invent signs to circumvent "vow of silence". These signs may have been used later in attempts to teach Deaf children

Dark Ages - the early part of the Middle Ages: Deaf adults objects of ridicule (court jesters) or committed to asylums because of speech and behavior thought to be possessed by demons

Middle Ages 476-1453 - "people born deaf could not have faith, could not be saved and were barred from churches" Must be able to "hear" the word of God - Punishment from God

1500-1620 - Italian and Spanish educators of deaf children:

Girolamo Cardano - Italian physician - was the first to challenge the pronouncements of Aristotle. He believed that hearing words was not necessary for the understanding of ideas.
Pedro Ponce De Leon (1520-1584) - taught deaf sons of the Spanish nobility in order that they might inherit property. Used reading and writing, but also taught speech.
Pablo Bonet (1620) - Taught the sons of Spanish noblemen to read and speak using the one-handed alphabet. Wrote the first book on Deaf Education.

1750 - Charles Michel De L'Eppe (1712-1789), Priest and "father of Sign Language and Deaf Education", born in Versailles, France:

Established first religious and social association for the deaf in Paris (1750's)
Established the first free public school for the deaf (1771)
Wrote "The Instruction of Deaf and Mute Persons Using Methodological Signs", first book to advocate the use of natural signs (1776)
Wrote first dictionary of French Signs learned from Deaf informants (1788)

Abbe Sicard (1742-1822) - successor to De L'Eppe at French School for the Deaf

Jean Massieau (1772-1846) - Famous Deaf teacher in Paris

Laurent Clerc (1785-1869) - Deaf student of De L'Eppee and Sicard

Samuel Heinicke (1727-1790) - Established the Oral method of teaching deaf children to speak. Strongly opposed to the use of sign language

1816 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787-1851) visited Europe to study Deaf Education and resumed to co-found the American School for the Deaf with Laurent Clerc. Gallaudet was married to Sophia Fowler, the second graduate of ASD. He was the father of Edward Miner Gallaudet, the first president of Gallaudet University.