Defining goals

Soon after the establishment of the Finnish Association for the Deaf, debate on its goals heated up. The national association began to arrange annual meetings to which local representatives were invited to consider ways for the associations to act in the interests of their members. On one hand, the social aspect of the associations was valued and on the other hand, their advocacy work was emphasised.

At first, the Finnish Association for the Deaf was led by deaf people and people who knew the deaf community well. However, from the beginning of the 1920s until the mid-1930s, the association was headed by people who regarded it important to integrate deaf people into the hearing society. At this time, the activities focused on training and education. When people who were better aware of the needs of the deaf community took over at the helm, the goals of the association were redefined. For example, in the 1930s, deaf Rurik Pitkänen acted as the editorial coordinator of Kuurojen Lehti (Magazine of the Deaf). Having strong views on the rights of deaf people, he encouraged the associations to trust their own abilities.

Over the decades, views on the status of sign language differed, largely depending on the background of the person in charge. In addition to education, oralism influenced the activities of the associations. Even when oralism was the prevalent ideology, the deaf community continued to use sign language as its means of communication, thanks to the operations of the associations. Pupils learned sign language in the school dormitories and continued using it in the associations, and the establishment of new associations helped make the use of sign language more common. When the share of deaf people that had received tuition in spoken language increased, it also affected the appreciation of speech skills.