Laurent Clerc Essay

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The famous deaf person that I chose is Laurent Clerc being the first deaf teacher of the deaf in America. He was born December 26, 1785 in France and he had become deaf at the age of one. He was involved in an incident when he was left in his high chair for a few minutes by a fire and happened to fall off leading him to burn the side of his face. However, because of the scar that got left behind from the burn had permanently made name sign for him which was two fingers brushed against his right cheek. At the age of seven his parents believed that his deafness could be treated with injections but, in the end learned there was no cure. During his childhood he did not attend any schooling to learn how to write nor read. His family communicated with him through gestures because, he didn’t know sign language as well.
Once he was twelve he …show more content…

He went on to receive his Masters of Arts degree from Trinity College. In 1815 Clerc went to England in order to show his teaching methods to a few other important people such as Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. He was one of the first persons to open a deaf university called Gallaudet University. After the presentation Gallaudet began to ponder why there wasn’t any school for the deaf back in the United States. Gallaudet sat in on some of Clerc’s classes within the institution in Paris. He soon went onto to be principle, taught and trained other teacher both hearing / deaf. Laurent made a great impact towards the deaf education teaching the highest class in the institution. After Gallaudet saw Clerc’s work he invited him to work with him back in America to help start a school for the deaf. He ended up becoming the first American deaf teacher in Gallaudet. He became a legacy after 41 years of teaching and retired in 1858 however, he still continued to help and support the deaf education and was the guest of honor in an inauguration at Gallaudet

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