Deaf History - Europe - All, picture first (2024)

The Greeks felt it was better to kill anyone with a disability.

The deaf were especially considered a burden in Athens, where it was believed that anyone who would be a "burden to society" should be put to death.

Socratesmentions that the deaf express themselves in gestures movement.

DomPedro Ponce de Leon, O.S.B., (1520–1584) was aSpanishBenedictinemonkwho is often credited as being "the first teacher for thedeaf".

His work with deaf children focused on helping them to learn how to speak language audibly. He also instructed children in writing and in simple gestures.

Juan Fernandez de Navarrete was born in the beautiful town of Navarre, Spain near the mountain range of the Pyrenees. He was called El Mudo (the mute) since childhood. He lost his hearing at the age of three and never learned to talk.

Juan's amazing drawings skills became evident when he began communicating his needs by drawing them out with charcoal on paper. The young artist never allowed his disabilities to hamper his dreams or ambitions and allowed his art to become his voice.

Hendrick Avercamp(1585-1634) was one of the first Dutch landscape painters of the 17th century. He was deaf and mute and known as de Stomme van Kampen (“the mute of Kampen”).

He is especially noted for his winter landscapes of his homeland. His landscapes are characterized by high horizons, bright clear colors, and tree branches darkly drawn against the snow or the sky. His paintings are lively and descriptive, with evidence of solid drawing skills that made him an ideal recorder of his contemporary life.

Wolfgang Heimbach(1615–1678) was a North GermanBaroquepainter, mostly active in Denmark.He wasdeaf-mutebut compensated by being able to read and write several languages.

(Wolfgang Heimbach, self-portrait, 1666)

In 1620,Juan Pablo Bonet published the first book on the subject of manual alphabetic signs for the deaf.

Bonet was of the first teachers to devise and record in print a sign alphabet, and his system has had some influence on modern sign languages. However, he was also typical of his age in believing that signing was only a step towards an ideal of oralism rather than a valid form of communication in itself.

Guillaume was born in Paris, France.While still young, Guillaumelost his hearing, which may have motivated him to focus entirely on science.

He never attended auniversity, but was able to studymathematics, thephysical sciences, andcelestial mechanics. He also spent time studying the skills ofdrawing,surveying, andarchitecture. He died inParis,France.

Johan Konra Amman became a teacher of the deaf around 1690 when a deaf girl, Esther Collader, was brought to him; he succeeded in teaching her to speak.

Amman strongly believed in oral techniques using lipreading and articulation teaching. His process consisted principally in exciting the attention of his pupils to the motions of his lips and larynx while he spoke, and then inducing them to imitate these movements, until he brought them to repeat distinctly letters, syllables and words.

"Abbé Charles Michel de l'Epée of Paris founded the first free school for deaf people in 1755."

"He first recognized and learned the signs that were already being used by deaf people in Paris and then developed his sign system. He added a signed version of spoken French."

Thomas Braidwood(1715–1806) was a Scottish educator, significant in the history ofdeaf education. He was the founder of Britain's first school for the deaf.

Braidwood changed his vocation from teaching hearing pupils to teaching the deaf, and renamed his building Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, the first school of its kind in Britain.

The educational approach utilized a "combined system" incorporating sign language, articulation, speech, and lip-reading. Braidwood's input into the development and application of a signed language has been credited as one of the most significant influencers of what would become British Sign Language.

"Samuel Heinicke was born April 14, 1727, in the part of Europe that is now the eastern part of Germany. In 1754, he began tutoring students—and one of them was deaf. This deaf student reportedly was a young boy. He used themanual alphabetto teach that deaf pupil."

"In 1777, his reputation as a deaf educator was so well established that he was asked to open the first (oral) public school for the deaf. This school opened in Leipzig, Germany and it was the first school for the deaf officially recognized by a government."

Claude-André Deseine was born deaf. He was an early pupil of the French pioneer of sign language teaching, theabbé de l’Epée, and justly proud of his achievements as a deaf-mute artist.

Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard(20 September 1742 – 10 May 1822) was a Frenchabbéand instructor of thedeaf.

In 1789, on the death of theAbbé de l'Épée, he succeeded him at a leadingschool for the deafwhich Épée had founded inParis.

In the winter of 1792-93, when Goya was 46, he developed a mysterious illness that nearly killed him. He survived but lost his hearing, and for the next 35 years was “deaf as a stump.”

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And yet, only after the illness did he achieve full mastery of the face in his portraits. Only after his hearing was gone did his skill as a portraitist reach its zenith, possibly, it has been suggested, because deafness made him more aware of gesture, physical expression, and all the minute particulars of how faces and bodies reveal themselves.

In 1779, Piere Desloges wrote what may be the first book published by a deaf person,in which he advocated for the use ofsign languageindeaf education.

It was in part a rebuttal of the views of AbbéClaude-François Deschamps de Champloiseau, who had published a book arguing against the use of signs.

Desloges explained, "like a Frenchman who sees his language belittled by a German who knows only a few French words, I thought I was obliged to defend my language against the false charges of this author." He describes a community of deaf people using a sign language (now referred to asOld French Sign Language).

Charles Shirreff was born in either 1749 or 1750. His last name has, at times, been spelled as Sherrif, Sherriff, or Shirref.

At the age of three or four, Shirreff became deaf and mute. In 1760, his father approached Thomas Braidwood, owner of a school of mathematics in Edinburgh, seeking an education for the boy, then ten years old, in the hope that he could be taught to write.

Charles became Braidwood's first deaf student; soon afterward, Braidwood founded Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, the first school of its kind in Britain."

"Abbé Charles Michel de l'Epée of Paris founded the first free school for deaf people in 1755."

In 1778 Samuel Heinicke opened thefirst Germanpublicschoolfor the education of thedeaf in Leipzig.

Heinicke insisted that lipreading was the best training method because it made his students speak and understand the language as it was used in society.

Castberg was provided with a grant from the King of Denmark to study deaf education in Europe for two years (1803 - 1805), including de l'Epée school in Paris.

At his return in 1805, Castberg began teaching eight deaf children, and on April 17, 1807, the King signed the charter for Døvsstumme-Institutet i Kiøbenhavn (The Institute of the Deaf-Mute in Copenhagen).

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc(26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of theDeafin America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American Deaf History.

WithThomas Hopkins Gallaudet, he co-founded the first school for the deaf in North America, the Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, on April 15, 1817.

The Institute for the Deaf was founded on December 7, 1786 in Prague.

From 1787, Karel Berger taught reading and writing with the finger alphabet. He created concepts with the help of characters and deaf and hard of hearing students also learned to articulate.

The real genius of sign language, which was ahead of its time in this area, was Václav Frost. His method was called "Frostr's combined method", also "Czech method" and "Prague", which from today's point of view means that it is a bilingual teaching.Frost used sign language to teach some subjects and, among other things, practiced articulation, reading and writing. He was aware that the deaf needed both.

Walter GeikieRSA(10 November 1795– 1 August 1837) was aScottishpainter.At the age of two he suffered a "nervous fever" which left himdeaf.

He sketched inIndia inkwith great truth and humor the scenes and characters of Scottish lower-class life in his native city.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet travelled to Europe in 1815 to study methods of education for the deaf.

After several months in Paris, Gallaudet returned to the United States with Laurent Clerc, a deaf teacher. They founded the American school for the deaf in 1817.

Mathias Stoltenberg(21 July 1799 – 2 November 1871) was a Norwegian painter. He earned his living mostly as a travelling portrait painter and furniture restorer. His paintings were later rediscovered and presented at the1914 Jubilee ExhibitioninKristiania.

He lost his sense of hearing as a child, and died in poverty inVangin 1871.

The year 1805 marked the opening in Madrid of the Royal School for Deafmutes.

Roberto Francisco Prádez was Spain's first deaf teacher of the deaf and a key figure in deaf education during the early 19th century, It was to his efforts that the Royal School for Deafmutes owed much of its success, and at times during its precarioius first three decades, its very existence.

Václav Frostwas born on February 4, 1814 in Nosálov, he died on June 21, 1865 in Konojedy (Litoměřice district), and was buried in Olšany cemeteries in Prague.

In 1840 he was called as the first teacher to the Prague Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, of which he became director and catechist in 1841.

The Institute of the Deaf was established on October 23, 1817 on the initiative of Fr. Jakub Falkowski. Initially, it was located on the premises of the University of Warsaw in the Kazimierzowski Palace, and in the years 1820–1827 in the house of the visiting sisters at Krakowskie Przedmieście.

On April 26, 1826, the construction of the seat of the Institute at Plac Trzech Krzyży began.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudetmet the French educators Abbe Sicard, Laurent Clerc, and Jean Massieu, of the Institut Royal des Sourds-Muets in Paris.

Impressed with the trio he joined them in Paris and learned as much as he could of the language and their methods. On his return to the United States, he invited deaf instructor Laurent Clerc to join him and, in 1817, they established the first permanent school for deaf children in the States, eventually known as the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.

"A school for the deaf and the blind opened in Liège, thanks to the efforts of Jean-Baptiste Pouplin.

In Februari 1819, the institute was founded and Pouplin became its director. Six months later, Joseph Henrion (1793 - 1868) was appointed as a deaf teacher to assist Pouplin, his father-in-law.Henrion was a former pupil of Sicard."

The first school for the deaf in Flanders was established in 1820 in the mother monastery of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary in the Molenaarsstraat in Ghent.

In 1819, the young candidate sister Theresia Verhulst went to Paris for nine months to manage the school in order to learn the sign language method of priest Charles-Michel De l'Epée. After her return, she became the first principal of the school until her death in 1854.

Born in 1822 in Paris,Ernest Huetbelonged to a noble family in France. At the age of only 12, Ernest had measles and, as a result of this illness, he became deaf.He studied at the National Institute for the Deaf in Paris. In 1855, Huet moved toBrazil.

In large part, due to Huet's dedication, in 1857, on September 26, the Imperial Instituto Nacional de Surdos-Mudos was founded in the city of Rio de Janeiro.The mixture of the sign language applied byHuetwith the language used by the Braziliandeafgave rise to the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS).

InNorwaythere was adeafperson, Andreas Christian Møller, who established thefirst schoolfor thedeafback in 1825.

At thisschool,sign languagewas the language of instruction.

Carl Oscar Malm was born in the Iso-Vahe ’rustholli’ estate in the parish of Eura on 12 February 1826.

Malm’s deafness was first noticed when he was expected to start speaking.

In August 1834, the 8-year-old Malm arrived at Manilla, the school for the deaf in Stockholm. The school’s most renowned teacher was Johan Gerhard Holtz, deaf himself. Malm was Holz’s private student until 1840, after which he became an actual student at Manilla.As was the common practice at the school, Malm learned two languages as Holtz’s student: the sign language used at the school and written Swedish.
Even during his school years, Malm dreamt of founding a school for the deaf in Finland.After returning to Finland, Malm started working as a private teacher for two deaf boys in the parsonage of Koivisto in February 1846.

Alexander Graham Bell(March 3, 1847– August 2, 1922)was aScottish-born American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practicaltelephone.

Bell'sfather, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work onelocutionand speech. Both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work.

His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the firstU.S. patentfor the telephone, on March 7, 1876.

Paul-François Choppin, born inAuteuilon 26 February 1856 and died in Paris (14th arrondissem*nt) on 13 June 1937, was a French sculptor.

He lost his hearing at the age of two and remained deaf and mute throughout his life.

In 1904, Veditz became president of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). He had strong opinions about preserving sign language, so during his years as president he worked closely with Oscar Regensburg, the first chairman of NAD's Motion Picture Fund Committee to produce some of the earliest films that recorded sign language.

Consequently, these videos are some of the most significant documents in deaf history.

The first school for the deaf was founded on September 4th 1867 when Rev. Páll Pálsson was appointed the teacher of the deaf. He took „mute“ students into his home and taught them using finger-spelling and gestures.

Páll used the Danish manual alphabet because he had been educated in Denmark himself. It can be assumed that at this time Icelandic Sign language started to develop amongst the students.

Fernand Joseph Job Hamar, born 15 July 1869 inVendômeand died 10 March 1943 in Paris, was a French sculptor.

During theFranco-Prussian warof 1870, between theBattle of Orleans (1870)and theBattle of Le Mans, the Prussian army pushed theArmy of the LoirearoundLe Temple. The noise of the cannons caused the deafness of Fernand Hamar, according to his family. Around his tenth birthday, he entered theInstitut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris.

Slava Raškaj (2 January 1877 – 29 March 1906) was aCroatianpainter, considered to be the greatest Croatianwatercoloristof the late 19th and early 20th century.

Being deaf ever since her birth, due to the difficulties in communication, she gradually withdrew from people, but not before her talent was noticed.

Her works have been exhibited since 1898 in art pavilions of Zagreb, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. It was the best part of her short career when most valuable works were done, especially those painteid in this very Garden, by the ponds. A series of paintings of water lilies (‘Lopoci’) are considered as a sort of a hallmark of this great artist.

Bust ofSlava Raškaj in Nazorova Street in Zagreb.

TheSecond International Congress on Education of the Deafwas (despite the name) the first internationalconferenceofdeafeducators held inMilan,Italyin 1880. It is commonly known as "theMilan Conference".

After deliberations from September 6 to 11, 1880, the conference declared thatoral education(oralism) was superior tomanual educationand passed a resolution banning the use of sign language in school.

The deaf Institute was founded on 1 October 1888 with the name: "Privatinstitut Lampe". Lampe used only sign language in his teaching. His school prospered because people really appreciated his attempts to prepare deaf pupils for society.

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Until the year 1888, Lampe maintained his school solely by voluntary contributions. In that same year, an association which aimed towards the foundation of an institution for the deaf in Croatia, undertook the management of the school, which shortly after started to expand and flourish."

"The later sculptor and poet Gustinus Ambrosi, born on February 24, 1893, lost his hearing in 1900 as a result of meningitis."

"In 1913 the sculptor, who was considered brilliant at an early age, received a state studio for life in Vienna and from that year attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna."

Kazimierz Wiszniewski was an excellent graphic designer and artist who commemorated the beauty of Polish landscape and Polish architecture in his works.

The art of Kazimierz Wiszniewski is also a very important part of the history of the deaf community in Poland.

Paul-François Choppin, born inAuteuilon 26 February 1856 and died in Paris (14th arrondissem*nt) on 13 June 1937, was a French sculptor.

He lost his hearing at the age of two and remained deaf and mute throughout his life.

In 1904, Veditz became president of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). He had strong opinions about preserving sign language, so during his years as president he worked closely with Oscar Regensburg, the first chairman of NAD's Motion Picture Fund Committee to produce some of the earliest films that recorded sign language.

Consequently, these videos are some of the most significant documents in deaf history.

Johannes Mattheus Graadt van Roggen (Amsterdam, 28 May 1867 – Alkmaar, 26 August 1959) was a Dutch draftsman, painter and graphic artist.

Graadt van Roggen was deaf from the age of three as a result of meningitis

Fernand Joseph Job Hamar, born 15 July 1869 inVendômeand died 10 March 1943 in Paris, was a French sculptor.

During theFranco-Prussian warof 1870, between theBattle of Orleans (1870)and theBattle of Le Mans, the Prussian army pushed theArmy of the LoirearoundLe Temple. The noise of the cannons caused the deafness of Fernand Hamar, according to his family. Around his tenth birthday, he entered theInstitut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris.

The Finnish Museum of the Deaf preserves the cultural heritage of the deaf in Finland.

The function of the museum is to collect, research and exhibit the cultural heritage of the deaf and sign language users in Finland. The aim of the museum is to increase knowledge of the history and culture of the deaf and sign language users and to strengthen their identity. In addition, the museum aims at communicating knowledge related to its specialty to the public at large.

Since 2012, The Finnish Museum of the Deaf is part of the Finnish Labour Museum WerstasinTampere.

The first group of persons with hearing impairment in Romania was established on November 9, 1919 and was called the Friendly Association of the Deaf-Mute in Romania, under the patronage of Queen Mary, through the voluntary association of a group of deaf.

In 1995, within the National Conference it was decided that the name of the association be “Romanian National Association of the Deaf”, a name that it honors nowadays.

Alexander Pavlovich Lobanov(Russian:Алекса́ндр Па́влович Лоба́нов; 30 August 1924 – April, 2003) was a Russianoutsider artist.Born inMologa (Russia)in 1924, Lobanov contractedmeningitisbefore five years old and was leftdeafandmute.

For over fifty years he produced hundreds of works with very little variety in style or content.

TheDeaflympics(previously calledWorld Games for the Deaf, andInternational Games for the Deaf) are anInternational Olympic Committee(IOC)-sanctioned event at whichdeafathletes compete at an elite level.

The games have been organized by theComité International des Sports des Sourds(CISS, "The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf") sincethe first eventin 1924.

The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were also the first ever international sporting event for athletes with adisability. The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and an additional event, the Deaflympic Winter Games, was added in 1949.

"With excerpts from the film "Misunderstood People" from 1932 as well as other documents and stories from contemporary witnesses, the German Deaf Association produced a new, one-hour film in 2013 entitled "The Deaf in the Nazi Era".

This film shows how the diversity of the deaf community in Germany and especially in Berlin was gradually destroyed during the Nazi era.

Dorothy "Dot" Miles(19 August 1931 – 30 January 1993) was a poet and activist in thedeaf community. Throughout her life, she composed her poems in English,British Sign Language, andAmerican Sign Language. Her work laid the foundations for modern sign language poetry in the US and UK.

She is regarded as the pioneer of BSL poetry and her work influenced many contemporary Deaf poets.

Albert Fischer was born on October 13, 1940 in Munich. He became deaf at the age of one as a result of meningitis.

From 1956 to 1959 he studied art with Prof. Karl Blocherer in Munich - and there he showed his extraordinary talent.

The German Deaf Theater (Deutsches Gehörlosen-Theater e.V., DGT for short) was founded over half a century ago with the aim that the deaf people can visit a theater in their language and that the deaf actors can come out of themselves and slip into other roles and still be themselves stay.

Deaf actors have long been discriminated outsiders. That shouldn't be anymore. On stage they are free spirits and rebels who maintain the culture of the deaf. It is simply fascinating to see how the deaf actors on stage implement their creative ideas with such passion, as if it were about life and death, about everything or nothing.

The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was established in 1951 during the first World Congress in Rome, Italy. The WFD is an international non-governmental organisation in official liaison with ECOSOC, UNESCO, ILO, WHO and the Council of Europe.

The WFD today continues to be an ever-expanding umbrella organisation providing a wide range of support and advocacy services for 134 national associations of the deaf.

Nicosia, the capital of the Greek part of Cyprus, has a school for the deaf, which was founded in 1953 by George Markou, who today is called the "Father of deaf people"

Markou started the school for the deaf in Cyprus with 22 pupils, 16 of which were Greek and 6 Turkish. His two assistants were Greek and Turkish.

From the very start of deaf education in Cyprus, the communication method never changed. The reasons for that being that the oral method had been used since the day of the school's inception, the majority of teachers prefer this method and had been accustomed to it since their training.

International Week of the Deaf is an initiative of the WFD and was first launched in 1958 in Rome, Italy.

It is celebrated annually by the global Deaf Community on the last week of September each year to commemorate the same month the first World Congress of the WFD was held.

Alexander Martianov was born in 1960 in a village not far from the town of Vyatka in the Russian Federation.

Mr Martianov has described his work in this way: “I find my own forms in art that can express my thoughts and internal images. I believe deafness has influenced my art in the sense that my world vision is connected to my deafness, and I try to express this in my work. My style has changed very little in recent years. Whatever changes there have been reflect my inner experience and images.”

Stokoe is often considered to be the "father of linguistics" in the field of American Sign Language. His research on American Sign Language (ASL) revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States andsign languagesthroughout the world.

Stokoe's work led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, exhibiting syntax and morphology, and are not mere systems of gesture. This work redefined the concept of "language" itself, and influenced thinking in theoretical linguistics, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, neural studies, and even jurisprudence.

The TTY came into being because of a deaf man named Robert Weitbrecht, the device's inventor.

Weitbrecht was born in 1920 and died in 1983. Borndeaf, he had difficulty learning to talk and was teased for his disability. He grew up to become an astronomer,physicist, and a licensed ham radio operator. Many people don't know that he also worked on the Manhattan project and invented the Geiger counter to measure radioactivity. However, it was his experience as a ham radio operator that led to the development of the TTY.

In the late 1970’s and through the 1980’s, much smaller and compact versions of the TTY were manufactured, marketed, and made available through state TTY equipment distribution programs.

In the mid-1960s, while working as an ear surgeon in Melbourne, Australia, Professor Clark came upon a scientific paper by Blair Simmons in the US. It described how a profoundly deaf person received hearing sensations through electrical stimulation, but no speech understanding. The seed was planted, and in 1967 he began researching the possibility of an electronic, implantable hearing device: a cochlear implant.

In 1978, the first cochlear implant surgery took place. And he and his dedicated team discovered in 1978 how speech could be coded with multi-channel electrical stimulation. Professor Clark’s determination had paid off.

From his success, Cochlear Limited was born. Its purpose: to make Professor Clark’s innovative multi-channel cochlear implant commercially available all over the world. Today, hundreds of thousands of severely or profoundly deaf children and adults worldwide have received a cochlear implant from Cochlear.

Source:https://www.cochlear.com/intl/about/company-information/history-of-innovation/about-graeme-clark

In 1976, the deaf American artist Alfredo Corrado went to France to work for the Nancy International Theater Festival. He meets Jean Grémion, French director already engaged in research on non-verbal theater.

Founded in 1977, IVT is currently directed by Emmanuelle Laborit since 2002, Jennifer Lesage-David since 2014.

TheCentre for Deaf Studieswas a department of theUniversity of Bristol, England, in the field ofdeaf studies, which it defines as the study of the "language, community and culture of Deaf people".

Established in 1978, the Centre claimed to be the first higher educational Institute in Europe "to concentrate solely on research and education that aims to benefit the Deaf community".

In May 2010, the university announced plans to close the undergraduate course as part of a drive to save £15 million. The campaign against this focussed on the lack of justice in targeting staff and students with particular needs, and the aggressiveness of the University's approach to the CDS, led by the Dean, Dr Judith Squires. There were accusations that her Faculty saved other units only by sacrificing the CDS. The shutdown of the programme was successful and the last students from the undergraduate degree graduated in 2013.

Riksteatern’s Tyst Teater is a pioneer in the production of groundbreaking dramatic art in Swedish Sign Language. Ever since the start in 1970, thee have offered a unique selection of dramatic arts, seminars and meetings.

Tyst Teater’s vision is to create the very best dramatic art in Swedish Sign Language, with and by artists and cultural performers who are deaf and members of the sign-language community.

Previous to the foundation of the EDSO in 1983 there were already European Championships of the Deaf since 1967. At this time they were still under the auspices of the Comité International des Sports (CISS), the World Federation of Deaf Sports. However, since their task was the promotion of deaf sports world-wide, they were not able to organise European Championships on a regular basis.

For this reason the countries Belgium, Netherlands, France and Germany took the initiative to found a European Deaf Sport Federation which had the task to provide orderly and regular European Championships. For this reason the delegates of the 4 countries met a few times to determine the shape and the programme of a European Deaf Sport Federation.

40 countries with 50.000 athletes in 1.000 Deaf Sports Clubs are members of the EDSO.

The European Union of the Deaf (EUD) was founded in 1985.

It is EUD's vision that Deaf people all over Europe have equality in both public and private aspects of life. Its main objectives it wants realised are: the recognition of the right to use an indigenous sign language, empowerment through communication and information, and equality in education and employment.

ESMHD was established in 1986 by a group of concerned people from four European countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Germany.

The ESMHD now has members from most European Union Countries as well as from countries outside Europe.

Established in 1987, EUDY (European Union of the Deaf Youth) is the only organisation representing the interests of Deaf Youth Europeans in Europe. EUDY exists to promote, advance, protect rights, and opportunities for Deaf people in Europe. Emancipation and equal opportunities are key philosophies in our work towards achieving an equal position in society with recognition of Deaf people as full citizens in our right.

EUDY's Vision:
In world where all Deaf Youth who use sign language are able to enjoy their rights, fulfil their responsibilities and obligations, and participate fully as they choose at every level of society.

Theater Totti is the only sign language theater in Finland.It was founded in 1987.

Theater Totti produces his performances for many different age groups, from children to adults and older generations. The plays can also be interpreted into speech for non-sign language viewers.

Every year, Toti has one to two of the theater's own sign language productions in its repertoire.

A "Deaf President Now" (DPN) student demonstration was held atGallaudet Universityin Washington, D.C. On March 13

The protest began on March 6, 1988, when the Board of Trustees announced its decision to appoint a hearing candidate,Elizabeth Zinser, over the other highly qualified Deafcandidates,Irving King JordanandHarvey Corson, as its seventh president.

Finnish Sign Languagewas recognised in theconstitutionin August 1995:

Section 17 - Right to one's language and culture[...] The rights of persons using sign language and of persons in need of interpretation or translation aid owing to disability shall be guaranteed by an Act.

The National Council of the Slovak Republic passed a law recognizing "Sign Language as a language of communication of the Deaf"

Slovakia has a separateLaw on the Sign Language of the Deaf. The Slovak Union of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing was mainly involved in drafting this law. It took over three years of fighting until the law was passed in 1995.
It recognises sign language as thelanguage of the Deaf.

"The revisedConstitution was published 20September 1997, with PSL included inArticle 74, Education:

In the implementation of its policyfor education, it is the duty of theState:

• To protect and value the PortugueseSign Language as cultural expressionand instrument of access to education and equality of opportunities."

TheCentre for Deaf Studieswas a department of theUniversity of Bristol, England, in the field ofdeaf studies, which it defines as the study of the "language, community and culture of Deaf people".

Established in 1978, the Centre claimed to be the first higher educational Institute in Europe "to concentrate solely on research and education that aims to benefit the Deaf community".

In May 2010, the university announced plans to close the undergraduate course as part of a drive to save £15 million. The campaign against this focussed on the lack of justice in targeting staff and students with particular needs, and the aggressiveness of the University's approach to the CDS, led by the Dean, Dr Judith Squires. There were accusations that her Faculty saved other units only by sacrificing the CDS. The shutdown of the programme was successful and the last students from the undergraduate degree graduated in 2013.

In December 2001, Theatre Manu was established. The theatre's strategy document states that the theatre will be the best theatre in the world with its roots in deaf culture and the environment.

Theater Manu is Norway's sign language theater. Teater Manu has developed into a state-funded institutional theater with eight employees, which has an office and stage at Grünerløkka in Oslo.

Theater Manu is a touring professional theater with high quality performing arts, a young cultural institution that is recognized both nationally and internationally.

The Signdance Collective is a touring performance company that was established in 2001. The company is culturally diverse with a team of experienced deaf and disabled artists at the helm.

The company is one of the first in the world to utilise and introduce the concept of inclusive practice with a specific focus on disability-deaf led team work.

The government endorsed the proposal to set down the Slovenian sign language as an official language in the constitution on Thursday, starting the procedure of enabling the Slovenian deaf and hearing-impaired community to fully exercise their basic human rights.

The law on the use of the Slovenian sign language from 2002 gives the children the right to have an interpreter to a limited extent, but it does not grant the language the necessary status.

In 2002 Paula Garfield founded Deafinitely Theatre alongside Steven Webb and Kate Furby having become frustrated with the barriers deaf actors and directors faced in mainstream media.

They are the first deaf launched and deaf-led theatre company in the UK that works bilingually in British Sign Language and spoken English, producing work that caters to audiences of all ages.

Belgium'sParliament of the French CommunityrecognisedFrench Belgian Sign Language(LSFB) bydecreein October 2003. The recognition entails:

• cultural (symbolic) recognition
• the formation of a commission to advise theGovernment of the French Communityin all LSFB-related matters

Flemish Sign Language(Dutch:Vlaamse Gebarentaalor VGT) was recognised on 24 April 2006 by theFlemish Parliament.

Cultural recognition entails that the Flemish Government recognises the Flemish Sign Language as the language of the Deaf Community in Flanders.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNRPD) was adopted on 13 December 2006.

It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional organizations. The Convention entered into force on 3 May 2008.

Estonian Sign Language was officially recognised on 1 March 2007.

The Language Act recognises Estonian Sign Language (eesti viipekeel, EVK) as an independent language: not using 'sign language' as a generic term.

Par. 2 "Scope of Application" mentions Estonian Sign Language again, explicitly stating that the Act regulates the Estonian language and the use of Estonian Sign Language, along with 'foreign languages', i.e. minority languages.

"TheMacedonian sign language(Macedonian:македонски знаковен јазик,romanized:makedonski znakoven jazikorмакедонски гестовен јазик,makedonski gestoven jazik) is thesign languageof thedeaf communityinNorth Macedonia.

The Macedonian Sign language is regulated by a national law on 21 August 2009.

The European Parliamentarian Dr. Adam Kosa from Hungary was the first deaf person elected in European parliamentary elections in June 2009, which marked a historical achievement for the deaf community.

Kosa works in the interests of deaf and disabled Europeans. One of his major aims is to make sign language the 24th official language in the EU.

December 2010, the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU) have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

By concluding the UN Convention, the EU is committed to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights for all persons with disabilities through the adoption of new legislation, policies and programmes and the review of existing measures.

In June 2011, Icelandic Sign Language was officially recognized as a first language. The law now states that Icelandic Sign Language is the first language of those who must rely on it for expression and communication, and of their children. The government authorities shall nurture and support it.

Article 5 of the Act also ensures that the government must promote all aspects of education and awareness in regards to Icelandic Sign Language.

EUD President 2013–present:Dr Markku Jokinen( Finland).

His major goal with the EUD is to strengthen EUD and work on strengtening EU citizenship of deaf people through using EU and other international instruments including UN CRPD.

The first generalist theater school in sign language immersion, the ETU offers a two-year diploma course.

The theater school, exclusively in sign language, is generalist, demanding, diploma-based and based on pedagogy by project. This innovative research site is enriched by numerous partnerships and exchanges.

Dr. Liisa Kauppinen received the 2013 United Nations Human Rights Award Prize from the United Nations in New York, USA.

The United Nations Prize in the field of Human Rights is an honorary award given to individuals and organisations for outstanding achievement in human rights every five years.

On May 13, 2014, Danish sign language was recognized as equivalent to the Danish language by an overwhelming majority in The Danish Parliament.

TheDanish Parliamentestablished the Danish Sign Language Council "to devise principles and guidelines for the monitoring of the Danish sign language and offer advice and information on the Danish sign language."

In 2014, Albanian Sign language was legally recognized.

Albanian Sign Language(AlbSL,Albanian:Gjuha e Shenjave Shqipe) is one of thedeaf sign languagesofEurope. It is unrelated to other sign languages of the Balkans.

It is relatively young, having developed primarily since the collapse of Communism in 1990.

On Thursday 17 September 2015 the British Sign Language (BSL) (Scotland) Bill was passed unanimously by all Parties in the Chamber in the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.

This new Act will work towards improving the daily life of the Scottish Deaf population and could shake up where the Deaf community choose to call home.

On the 20^thMay, the European Parliament conducted a plenary debate after which it adopted a resolution in which it expresses its strong support to the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). It was adopted with an overwhelming majority among the political parties.

The resolution states that the European Parliament should be fully involved in monitoring and implementing the UN Convention.