Apology Wanted for Sign Language Ban

The Swiss federation for the deaf is asking the institutions that banned sign language in schools at the end of the 19th century to apologize for doing so. After the decision, the deaf in Switzerland were punished for signing. Some had their hands tied behind their backs, others were hit with rulers and some were forced to repeat sounds for long periods of time. It was during the late 1700s that French priest Charles Michel de l’Épée came up with a way for students at his institution to use hand signs to communicate. He taught the language to the deaf in several countries. But in 1880, the International Congress on Education for the Deaf meeting in Milan, decreed that the use of sign language in schools should be abolished. Among their reasons: sign language was said to promote tuberculosis and religious leaders proclaimed that man could not talk to God in gestures. Signing went underground in Europe and the region did not start bilingual education for the deaf until the 1980s. While the International Congress on Education for the Deaf officially apologized for the ban last year, the groups taking part in making the decision have not.