NTID stands for: National Technical Institute for the Deaf?

True! NTID is located in Rochester, New York, and is one of nine colleges within RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology).  Started in 1967, the school’s mission is to give Deaf and Hard of Hearing students a quality education in technological fields.  According to the website, nearly 1,400 of the 1,529 students enrolled are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and in the last five years an astonishing 91% of graduates that pursue employment have found a job within a year.

Gallaudet University is located in Washington D.C.?

Gallaudet University is, in fact, located in Washington D.C.  We have previously discussed the history and implementation of Gallaudet, but what it is most known for is the “Deaf President Now” movement.  In 1988 the University found itself in need of a new president.  They began interviewing candidates and narrowed it down to two Deaf men, and one hearing woman who did not know sign language.  In a move that I’m not sure anyone, including those involved, understood, they chose the hearing woman as the president of a Deaf university.  This sparked an intense 3 day protest in which the students chanted “Deaf President NOW!” and blocked access to the university, effectively shutting it down.  After 3 days, the administration relented and selected I. King Jordan, a well-educated Deaf man, to be the next president of the University.

DPN (Deaf President Now) is a moment in history where the whole nation was focused on the Deaf, and their needs.  As a result (and rightly so), DPN is a huge point of pride for the Deaf Community.

NTID is located in Rochester, New York?

True! To be more specific, NTID is located at:

52 Lomb Memorial Drive

Rochester, NY 14623

However, if a road trip is not in your future, you can go to http://www.ntid.rit.edu/virtual-tour and take a virtual tour of campus.  While you are there, check out their calendar of awesome campus events and schedule your vacation time accordingly.  It will be the perfect way to practice everything that you have learned at ASLDeafined.com!

 Gallaudet University was founded by Edward Miner Gallaudet?

True!  In 1857, Amos Kendall donated the land for Columbia Institute for the Deaf and Blind, and made known his wish for Edward to become it’s leader.  Mr. Gallaudet jumped at the chance and became the school’s first principal.  Gallaudet, however, had bigger plans for the school.  He wanted to see it become a college.  To do this, he appealed to the higher powers, even going so far as to request a bill be signed in to law, which was an unnecessary move.  He was appeased, however, when the president at the time, a Mr. Abraham Lincoln, signed such a bill, giving the authorization for the Columbia Institute to begin awarding college degrees.  Gallaudet remained active in the college, both as President of the University and then later, President of the Board of Directors, until his retirement in 1911.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was instrumental in bringing ASL to America?

It may be difficult to understand the motives of Edward Miner Gallaudet without first speaking of his father, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet dreamed of becoming a preacher.  That was until he met nine-year-old Alice, the deaf daughter of his neighbor, Dr. Mason Cogswell.  Alice befriended Thomas, who began trying to teach her the names of objects by writing in the dirt with a stick.  As you can guess, this effort did not reap the desired outcome.  Alive with new purpose, Thomas abandoned his dreams, as well as the master’s degree that he received at the age of 20 from Yale University, and took off for Europe to study methods for teaching deaf students.  After several dead ends, Thomas was introduced to Abbe Siccard who ran the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets a Paris (The National Deaf-Mute Institute of Paris), who in turn introduced him to Laurent Clerc, and Jean Massieu, two of his deaf faculty members.  Thomas, impressed with the advanced education that the two men had obtained by using the manual method, begged Clerc to return to America with him.  Clerc agreed, and on the three month journey home, taught Thomas Sign Language.  Upon his return to America, Thomas took Clerc around the eastern seaboard, campaigning and collecting money to begin their own school.  They succeeded and built a school that would eventually become known as the American School for the Deaf.  The first class consisted of seven students, including, of course, his young friend Alice.