The First US Deaf Educator

by Lyndee
(Missouri)

My favorite person from Deaf History would have to be Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. While I find much of Deaf History intriguing, I am particularly interested in this man. He was essentially the first Deaf Educator in the United States. He was breaking new ground for all future Deaf Educators.

I am also a Deaf Educator and I know how challenging and rewarding it can be working with deaf and hard of hearing students. It is fascinating to think that he traveled to another country to learn how to best teach children with a hearing loss and then brought that knowledge back to help countless generations of children. Now that we have entire courses and majors dedicated to the pursuit of becoming a Deaf Educator, it is difficult to imagine a time when there was no training in the United States for what Gallaudet wanted to do.

The fact that he succeeded and started the first school for deaf children in the US is even more inspiring. He went for one little girl and his work essentially began generations of Deaf Educators. Without Thomas H. Gallaudet, I might not have a job today and we might not have American Sign Language.