Oralism: A Sign of the Times? The Contest for Deaf Communication in Education Provision in Late Nineteenth-century Scotland

Abstract

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, but the mode of achieving this 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, but educators were faced with the reality that this was not good education practice for most pupils. This article will consider the responses of Scottish educators of deaf children from the 1870s until the beginning of the twentieth century. IntroductionIn 1880, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf, meeting in Milan, passed several resolutions that were to have long-term effects on the deaf community and on the provision of communication skills and education. Two key resolutions stated:1. The convention, considering the incontestable superiority of speech over signs in restoring the deaf-mute to society and giving him a fuller knowledge of language, declares that the oral method should be preferred to that of signs in the education and instruction of deaf-mutes. The debate surrounding the efficacy of the manual method of communication (sign language and finger-spelling) and the oral method (lip-reading and articulation)

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