dates of ASL history

1000 BC

Hebrew Law — Deaf people had limited rights to property and marriage and were treated as having lower status.

360 BC

Aristotle — Claimed Deaf people were incapable of reason because they could not hear or speak.

354–430 AD

St. Augustine — Believed Deaf people could learn using signs, gestures, and bodily movements.

1521

Rudolf Agricola — Believed Deaf people could communicate through writing and that thought is separate from speech.

1540s

Spanish Monks — Created a signing system under a vow of silence and taught Deaf students using hand signs and traced letters.

1620

Spain — First public education of Deaf students in Spain.

1680

George Dalgarno — Taught Deaf students to lipread, speak, and fingerspell in Scotland.

1714

Martha’s Vineyard Residents — High Deaf population led to the creation of Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL), used by both Deaf and hearing people.

1760

French Deaf Educators — Founded French Sign Language (LSF) and advanced Deaf education in France.

1814

Thomas H. Gallaudet & Alice Cogswell — Gallaudet met Deaf child Alice Cogswell in Hartford, Connecticut, inspiring him to pursue Deaf education.

1815

Braidwood Family — Required Gallaudet to study for 3 years and keep methods secret; he refused.

1815

Jean Massieu & Laurent Clerc — Deaf French teachers who showed that language could be signed, spoken, or written and shared methods openly.

1816

Laurent Clerc — Agreed to travel to the United States to help start a Deaf school.

1817

American School for the Deaf — First Deaf school in America opened in Hartford, Connecticut with 7 students.

1864

Edward Miner Gallaudet — Helped establish the first Deaf college, now known as Gallaudet University.

1960s

American Sign Language (ASL) — Officially recognized as a complete, independent language.