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When did the use of Sign Language begin?

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From earlier recorded history, gestures have been used for communication between groups of different languages and cultures. The use of formalized language of signs however has been gradual until the first attempts to educate deaf children were made.
The first book with a manual alphabet was published by Juan Pablo de Bonet in 1620. However the public education of the hearing impaired using sign language began in France. In 1755 Abbe Charles de l’Epee founded the first public school for the deaf. He is considered the father of public education of the deaf. He is also credited as the father of Sign Language. He refined and developed the language of signs into a full language from which the present day sign languages are derived. In America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a young minister and student of de l’Epee became the developer of American education of the deaf. He also founded the first school for the deaf in America at Hartford Connecticut in 1817 in which sign language was used.
In 1880 during the Milan Conference the proponents of oralism led by Heinickes carried the day and it was declared that deaf children should be taught through speech as opposed to sign language, a declaration that retarded the development of sign language in schools.

Titany answered the question on May 12, 2022 at 09:27

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When did the use of Sign Language begin?

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