Deaf President Now Movement

Deaf President Now was a movement held in Washington D.C. at Gallaudet University. Gallaudet is a University for Deaf and hard of Hearing students where most if not all classes are held in American Sign Language and English. At Gallaudet they serve the community of Deaf, Deaf Blind, Deaf Disabled, Hard of Hearing people, and all of humanity. In this article, you will learn about the Deaf President Now movement and how the student, staff, and faculty fight for their right for education, and for someone who knows their story and can relate to them, through mutual experiences.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Louis Laurent Marie Clerc established the first American school for the Deaf.

Edward Miner Gallaudet, Thomas’ son, establishes a kindergarden through twelfth grade school for the Deaf in Washington D.C.

A collegiate division was added to Gallaudet school for the Deaf.

At the Milan Conference, after deliberations from September 6 to 11, 1880, the conference declared that oral education (oralism) was superior to manual education and passed a resolution banning the use of sign language in school. This is considered the worst form of audism.

The National Association of the Deaf formed as a retaliation against the Milan Conference.

By now almost all schools for the Deaf used Oral Communication.

The Presidents’ Council on Deafness (PCD) formed by faculty and staff. This was formed because they felt that students’ needs were overlooked by administration, which consisted mostly of hearing people.