CHAPTER 28

"What do deaf people think of all this controversy about methodologies and literacy and all this criticism of deaf schools? If the old schools for the deaf were doing something right, what was it?

Before "manually coded English" or "Sign-supported speech" or "contact sign language" or "Pidgin Sign English" were established many deaf people had their early education at home. Your teacher was your paretns, or older sibiling_ someone you had a one on one relationship with. Of course if you were a deaf child in a hearing family this complicates everything. A parent of a deaf child would then hae to learn sign language and would not be able to teach until the language was understood by them first.
Luckily in 1817, Hartford Asylum opened and deaf children and adults finally had access to real education. This is where Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc who were the orignial faculty at the school came into history. According to chapter 28, Clerc used a form of French Sign language. Although deaf students (just as hearing students would) adapted to their own preferences, they adapted to their own form of signing. These students took some of Clercs' signs borrowed, changed, and rejected much of the teaching. Just like every language students had to be practiced, and the students of this school had lots of practice.

practice makes perfect, practice, practice, practice! :)