Berruecos MP

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 27-31
PDF size: 128.77 Kb.

ABSTRACT

What do we mean by oralism? Probably, for colleagues in other countries this question could be unconceivable; for us, this contribution hopes to provide an answer. This paper has been divided in two sections. The first one describes the routes of secular discussions that finally came up with solutions for the education of the deaf, a difficult and usually unknown topic in our society even today. Its purpose is to describe how historical forces and opinions –expressed during centuries– have built main agreements on sign language and oral language perspectives. Opinions have varied frequently derived from different experiences and biases –many a time– without theoretical or scientific support. Nevertheless it is important to underline how two great leaders have left enormous and valuable contributions for present educational progress and feasible research in the field of hearing and deafness. Humanitarian actions are widely recognized from Charles Michele De L’Epée (1712-1789) in France and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) in Scotia and the US. Their clear minds, benevolence and genial inventions are basic to explaining present situations, due to the great impact of their knowledge on the hearing impaired in very different centuries. The creation and growth of young university programs –not yet one century old– have delivered an exceptional new science, example of world changes. This fact underlines the necessary immersion for learning from old basic proposals for auditory handicapped groups. History is the skeleton for culture and science; none of us could now be engaged in this professional enterprise without acknowledging historical legacies.