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=The American School For the Deaf in Hartford Connecticut = Photograph from [] (Used with Permission)

"The American School for the Deaf serves the deaf and hard of hearing community as a multifaceted innovative institution dedicated to the development of intellect and the enhancement of quality of life, producing educated and self-directed citizens." ASD Mission Statement ([|http://www.asd-1817.org/about/mission.htm)]

As the world and society changes, we must adapt to these changes and change our way of thinking. Education has gone through many different changes throughout time; the curriculum, the organization of schools, and the types of schools that have opened. The American School for the Deaf is one such school.

==History of the School == The school was founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in 1817. During a vacation home from college, he met Alice Cogswell. Alice was the daughter of Gallaudet's next door neighbor (Daniels, 43).She had lost her hearing when she was a child due to an illness that included an extended fever ([]). Gallaudet was training to be a minister, but he decided to teach Alice how to write and from books published Abbe Sicard, he taught her sign language (Daniels, 43). Gallaudet and other clergy men met and determined that there were 80 deaf children in Connecticut, but no school to teach them at (Daniels, 43). Funds were raised, and Gallaudet was sent to Europe to learn about the different ways to teach deaf students ([]). There were no schools for the deaf or dumb during this time period. Families had to send their students to Europe, where they could go to England, Scotland, and France among others (Daniels, 43-44). While he was over in Europe, he learned sign language, but he couldn't learn it all well enough to teach it so Laurent Clerc, a professor at the French Institute for the Deaf in Paris, came back to the United States with him. Over the course of the trip across the Atlantic, Clerc learned English and Gallaudet learned sign language. After learning sign language himself, Gallaudet opened the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT. It was opened in Bennett's City Hotel, and opened its doors on April 15, 1817 ([]).

 Opinion's of Deafness
People's opinions of deafness have changed throughout the years. During the Ancient Greeks' rule, deaf people were not allowed to get an education, because it was thought that they couldn't learn since they couldn't hear ([]). Early Christians said that if a child was deaf then it was "a sign of God's anger at the sins of their parents" ([]). During the 1500's, an Italian doctor tried to teach his son language by using written symbols. Also Ponce de Leon, a French monk started teaching people who were deaf from birth to speak. And Juan Pablo Bonet started writing the first book of sign language ([]). Martha's Vineyard had a lot of families who passed on a gene that caused deafness. Up to 25% of the people that lived there between 1690 and 1880 were deaf ([]). They developed their own sign language because of the number of deaf people that lived in the community. 

 How opinion's change
 In 1865, a college was opened specifically for the deaf community. It was called the National College for the Deaf and Dumb but was later changed to Gallaudet College ([]). Also it was the first school to get aid from the state, and from the federal government ([]). In 1892, the first hearing aid was invented. It was not small, and had to be put on a desk to be used, but they allowed people who were hard of hearing to hear better than they could before ([]). During World War I and World War II, deaf people weren't allowed to serve. But since all the able men were going to fight, the people that were left were forced to work. This included women, and deaf people ([]). In the 1970's, the first show to have closed captioning was aired, the French Chef ([]). With the Rehabilitation Act being passed, TTY phones and interperaters were some of the accommidations made for the deaf ([]). These are only a few of the steps that our society has taken.

Shifting back?
Deafness is a disability. And our education system has been taking strides to make sure that all students get an equal education. Our government is working on making laws and programs to help with making sure that deaf students and other students with disabilities have the same rights and chances as other students. For example, IDEA was changed in parts of the original law to make sure that students aren't resticted ([]). But with all disabilites or characteristics that make an individual different from a collective body, there are still prejudices. Although these still exist, our society is getting better at accepting people. In 1987, Marlee Matlin, the first deaf actress was awarded an Academy Award and in 1995 Heather Whitestone from Alabama was crowned the first deaf Miss America ([] ). In the United States, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was the first person to push for education of deaf persons, and he is still know as a leader in the education for deaf people ([]).

Resources
"A Brief History of ASD." __American School for the Deaf.__ <[]>.

"Sound and Fury- Deaf Culture Time line." __PBS.__ <[]>.

Daniels, Marilyn. "Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and the American School for the Deaf." __Benedictine Roots in the Development of Deaf Education Listening with the Heart.__ British Library Cataloguing: 1997. 