Laurent Clerc Research Paper

Laurent Clerc

By : Ryan Abstein

Hr. 4

Laurent Clerc was born in Paris, France in 1785. It all started when, he fell out of a chair and suffered the loss of his sense of hearing, at the age of one.It happened by hitting his head on the floor really hard, leaving him with a scar on his face. Despite the scar on his head, he always had the belief that he was born deaf. He was also without a sense of smell, due to the fall. When he the age of twelve his uncle decided to take him to the Paris School for the Deaf. As a student, Clerc settled in very well, and had great grades. At this school, it was the first time he was introduced to sign language, also his first time meeting another deaf person, her name Jean Massiue.

Laurent Clerc could not speak at all before he came to the school, but there he was taught to speak. When Laurent was saying some of the words, he would get some letters mixed up. After that would happen, his speech techaer would hit him. Eventually Clerc deiced to quit speech class amd never speak again, and learn to sign. He made a promise the day he quite that he was to never use his voice again.After everything that had happened at the school, Clerc stayed at the school and taught other students first as a tutor, then wanted to be a teacher, and so he did.

When Clerc's came to America, it would make him one of the most famous deaf man in our history. When Clerc arrived in the great city of New York in 1817, he brought Thomas Gallaudet. Clerc and Thomas both founded the first ever American School for the Deaf, which is located in Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. Clerc was the first ever deaf teacher in America, Clerc taught thirty-one students in the opening year of the school, with Alice Cogswell be...

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...Federation of the Deaf Conference. He held residencies at many deaf schools, teaching and creating long-lasting artworks. Among these are a 150-foot long collage/mural he created for The Learning Center for Deaf Children in 1995, and a 30x10 mural at Gallaudet entitled "The Five Panels: Deaf Experiences".The mural is still on exhibit and has been lauded for its importance to the deaf experience.

In May 1989, prior to the international deaf culture festival at Gallaudet University, Deaf Way II, Baird was one of eight deaf artists who produced a manifesto for De'VIA (Deaf View Image Art). This was a concept for deaf art that was differentiated from art by or for deaf people. Rather, it was art that contained a message about deaf life. It uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural or physical deaf experience.