Editing History of sign language (section)

== Perception of sign language through history==
In Europe, Aristotle and other prominent philosophers<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gracer |first1=Bonnie |title=What the Rabbis Heard: Deafness in the Mishnah |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |date=15 April 2003 |volume=23 |issue=2 |doi=10.18061/dsq.v23i2.423 |doi-access=free }}</ref> believed that deafness was intrinsically connected to mutism and lack of intelligence, which was codified in Roman law; therefore they were considered incapable of being educated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ferreri |first1=Giulio |date=1906 |title=The Deaf in Antiquity |journal=American Annals of the Deaf |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=460–473 |jstor=44463121}}</ref> When [[John of Beverley]], Bishop of York, taught a deaf person to speak in 685 AD, it was deemed a miracle, and he was later [[canonized]].<ref name=Groce>{{cite book | first=Nora Ellen | last=Groce | year=1985 | title=Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard | url=https://archive.org/details/everyoneherespok00groc_0 | url-access=registration | publisher=Harvard University Press| isbn=978-0-674-27040-4 }}{{pn|date=January 2023}}</ref>

European education for the deaf is not recorded until the 16th century, when [[Pedro Ponce de León]] began tutoring deaf children of wealthy patrons{{snd}}in some places, literacy was a requirement for legal recognition as an heir. The first book on deaf education, published in 1620 by [[Juan Pablo Bonet]] in Madrid, included a detailed account of the use of a manual alphabet to teach deaf students to read and speak.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonet |first1=Juan Pablo |url=https://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/39/09/_ebook.pdf |title=Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos |date=1992 |publisher=CEPE |isbn=978-84-7869-071-8 |language=es |trans-title=Reduction of Letters and Art to Teach the Mute to Speak}}{{pn|date=January 2024}}</ref> It is considered the first modern treatise on [[phonetics]] and [[speech therapy]], setting out a method of [[oral education]] for deaf children. In Britain, [[Thomas Braidwood]] founded the first school for the deaf in the late 1700s. He was secretive about his teaching methods but probably used sign language, finger spelling and lip reading.{{fact|date=January 2024}}

[[Abbé de l'Épée|Abbé Charles Michel de l'Épée]] started the first school for deaf children in Paris, in 1755.{{fact|date=January 2024}} [[Laurent Clerc]] was arguably the most famous graduate of L'Épee's school; Clerc went to the United States with [[Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet]] to found the [[American School for the Deaf]] in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817. In France and the United States, sign language, or "manualism" was initially the favored communication method for education of deaf students, firmly supported by Clerc and therefore Gallaudet.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814722435.001.0001 |title=Words Made Flesh |year=2012 |last1=Edwards |first1=R. A. R. |isbn=978-0-8147-2243-5 }}{{pn|date=January 2023}}</ref> In England and Germany oralism was considered to be superior - sign language was thought to be a mere collection of gestures, and a barrier between deaf people and hearing society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudiesTeaching/deafed/Session%202A.htm|title=Session 2A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallaudet.edu/museum/exhibits/history-through-deaf-eyes/language-and-identity/oral-education-as-emancipation/|title=Oral Education as Emancipation}}</ref> In 1880, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) met in Milan with 164 educators attending (only one of them being deaf). At this meeting they passed a resolution removing the use of sign language from deaf education, and establishing the solely oralist classroom as standard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wfdeaf.org/news/21st-international-congress-on-the-education-of-the-deaf-iced-in-july-2010-in-vancouver-canada/|title = 21st International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) in July 2010 in Vancouver, Canada|date = 10 January 2011}}</ref> In line with this philosophy, [[manually coded language]]s have been created and used for education instead of sign language, such as [[Signing Exact English]].

The debate between oralism and manualism remained active after Milan. In the late 20th century educators and researchers began to understand the importance of sign language to language acquisition.  In 1960 when the linguist [[William Stokoe]] published Sign Language Structure, it advanced the idea that American Sign Language was a complete language. Over the next few decades sign language became accepted as a valid first language and schools shifted to a philosophy of "Total Communication",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/articles/totalcom.htm|title = Hands & Voices :: Communication Considerations}}</ref> instead of banning sign language.

Wyatte C. Hall says that sign language is important for the development of deaf children growing up because without it, they could be at risk of many health difficulties. Studies have shown that the development of neuro-linguistic structures of the brain can be affected if there is a language delay. A study showed that there is an "age of acquisition" that affects adults' ability to understand grammar based on when they were introduced to sign language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Wyatte C. |title=What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: The Risk of Language Deprivation by Impairing Sign Language Development in Deaf Children |journal=Maternal and Child Health Journal |date=May 2017 |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=961–965 |doi=10.1007/s10995-017-2287-y |pmid=28185206 |pmc=5392137 }}</ref> Data now shows that children who are heavily exposed to sign language as early as possible are better at reading English than children who are not exposed to sign language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldin-Meadow |first1=Susan |last2=Mayberry |first2=Rachel I. |title=How Do Profoundly Deaf Children Learn to Read? |journal=Learning Disabilities Research and Practice |date=November 2001 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=222–229 |doi=10.1111/0938-8982.00022 |s2cid=1578483 }}</ref>