Deaf Education History: Pre-1880

Historical archives documenting the education of deaf individuals in ancient Greece and Rome are [Page 183]rare. Early accounts of the benevolent care and treatment of the deaf are equally uncommon. As early as 355 BCE, Aristotle is believed to have been the first to claim that the deaf were not capable of reason and could not be educated. According to Aristotle, the ability to learn was linked directly to the ability to speak. His theory was the foundation for laws declaring the deaf as “non-persons”; as a result, the deaf were not legally permitted to buy property or marry. During the Middle Ages, the church provided basic care and education for the deaf, but signing techniques did not become more common until the Renaissance period. ...