Oralism: a sign of the times? The contest for deaf communication in education provision in late nineteenth-century Scotland

Citation

Hutchison IC (2007) Oralism: a sign of the times? The contest for deaf communication in education provision in late nineteenth-century Scotland. European Review of History / Revue Europeenne d'Histoire, 14 (4), pp. 481-501. https://doi.org/10.1080/13507480701752136

Abstract
Disability history is a diverse field. In focussing upon children within deaf education in late nineteenth-century Scotland, this essay reflects some of that diversity. In 1880, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf in Milan stipulated that speech should have ‘preference’ over signs in the education of deaf children. The mode of achieving this, however, effectively banned sign language. Endeavours to teach deaf children to articulate were not new, but this decision placed pressures on deaf institutions to favour the oral system of deaf communication over other methods. In Scotland efforts were made to adopt oralism, and yet educators were faced with the reality that this was not good educational practice for most pupils. This article will consider responses of Scottish educators of deaf children from the 1870s until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Keywords
Deafness; sign language; articulation; education; Deaf children Education Scotland 19th century; Deaf children Education Scotland 20th century; Deaf Means of communication Study and teaching; Lipreading

Journal
European Review of History / Revue Europeenne d'Histoire: Volume 14, Issue 4

People

Iain C Hutchison