DISCOVER AND FIND
HISTORY
Lue lisää
Person history
Deaf education
The first schools for deaf people were founded in Europe in the second half of the 18th century. As a result, discussion on teaching methods began. Finland’s first school for deaf people was founded in 1846, which also marked the emergence of a deaf community in Finland.
Organizations
Together with the schools for the deaf, deaf associations formed the foundation of the deaf community, helping pass on the deaf culture, traditions and values from one generation to the next.
Oralism
Throughout history, deafness and mutism have been linked. A deaf person’s ability to speak has been regarded as a sign of talent, humanity or education, or a lack thereof. In the study of deaf history, this attitude is called oralism.
Religious life
Deaf education initially focused on religious subjects and many of the teachers and headmasters had trained as ministers. The deaf began their own religious activities at the end of the 19th century and having a travelling clergyman for the deaf was discussed.
Deaf awareness
In the late 20th century, people from the deaf community began to express open criticism against oralism, which had been the dominant teaching method in the schools for the deaf since the late 19th century and which did not acknowledge the value of sign language.At the same time, cultural life among the deaf community was thriving and the status of sign language was debated actively.
Family life
In the 18th and 19th centuries in Sweden, which Finland was part of at the time, deaf people were permitted to marry, if they had a basic understanding of Christianity and the husband could provide for a family. Marriages between deaf people at that time have not been thoroughly studied and source material is likely to be scarce.
Professions
For generations, deaf people have had to battle prejudices and ideas that deaf people are not capable of working in certain professions. Deaf people have heard from their teachers, student counsellors and parents that ‘a deaf person can’t do that’. Despite this, deaf people demonstrated that they can and succeeded in entering one profession after another.