Laurent Clerc Deafness Case Study

Cause of Deafness: Legend has it that Laurent Clerc became deaf and had also lost his sense of smell when he fell out of his high chair into a fireplace at the age of one. His name sign was actually derived from the scar on his right cheek which was due to a severe burn from the incident. Clerc’s name sign, the “U” hand sign stroking twice downward along the right cheek ended up becoming one of the best-known and most recognizable name signs in American deaf history. Laurent Clerc though always believed and argued that he, in fact, was born deaf and without the sense of taste or smell. In reality, no one knows for a fact what caused Clerc’s deafness, we only know the rumors.

Educational Background:

It may be hard to believe, but Clerc didn’t attend school or learn to write until he was twelve years old. He didn’t have any means of communication or education until his uncle-godfather enrolled him in the Institut National des Jeune Sourds-Muets which was the first public school for the deaf in the world; becoming the model for many other schools for the deaf in the time to come. Clerc exceeded

When he was in school, Abbe Margaron, the assistant teacher tried to teach students to pronounce words. Margaron became so enraged with Clerc’s difficulties to enunciate certain syllables that one time he struck Clerc underneath the chin causing him to accidently bite his tongue. Clerc bit his tongue so hard from the blow that he swore he would never learn to speak again, strengthening his belief that signing was the best mode of communication for the deaf. When he and Gallaudet established the American School for the deaf, then called The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, Clerc taught his students French signs, and began integrating some native sign language that he noticed his students using creating a basis for American Sign