Famous Deaf People

Question 1

Clark Denmark

Answer 1

• Born and educated in Scotland
• Studied Maths and Physics at the Gallaudet University from 1971-1973
• Masters in teaching English as a foreign language at University of Central Lancashire
• Developed sign language training course for BSL teachers at Durham university
• Director of Education and Training at BDA
• One of the first deaf members of the degree course in Deaf Studies at University of Bristol’s Centre for
  Deaf Studies
• Over 15 years teaching and training in sign language and deaf history and deaf politics
• Guest lecturer at many universities
• Presenter in some deaf-related films
• He presented the Battle For BSL film about the fight for BSL recognition in Scotland

Question 2

Clive Mason - 9

Answer 2

• Born Deaf in Glasgow in 1954
• Didn’t start learning sign language until he went to school at 5
• Made a film with Paddy Ladd based on Paddy’s research when the BBC spotted him
• 1984, began working on See Hear
• Still involved in some presenting
• Sign language interpreter trainer
• Visiting lecturer at UCL
• BBC in-vision interpreter
• 2012, he was awarded a Deaf Community Award

Question 3

Jacob Rodrigues Pereira

Answer 3

• First teacher of Deaf-Mutes in France
• 1715-1780. Born in Portugal and eventually settled in France
• Regarded as one of the inventors of manual sign language
• Formulated signs for numbers and punctuation
• Adapted Juan Pablo Bonet’s alphabet
• Credited with being first to teach a non-verbal person to speak
• Awarded membership of the Royal Society of London in 1759
• One of his sisters was ‘deaf and dumb’
• Studied anatomy, physiology and other experiments on congenital deaf-mutes
• Known for contributions to technology and financial contribution to the French government

Question 4

Paddy Ladd - 8

Answer 4

• Coined the term “deafhood” and is an activist
• Attended mainstream school
• He was rejected in his application to do postgraduate studies to teach deaf children and so he
  became a social worker for deaf children and their families
• He published a book about deaf culture in 2003
• Written several papers on Deafhood
• He stands against the 1981 Education Act
• Involved in See Hear and other deaf organisations
• He campaigns for Deaf rights and is an activist

Question 5

Sign Mark

Answer 5

• His real name is Marko Vuoriheimo, born 1978
• Deaf Finnish rap artist
• He released the first sign language hip-hop DVD (2006)
• Started career signing songs from MTV
• 2nd place Finland qualifier for Eurovision Song Contest (2009)
• 1st deaf person to sign a recording contract with an international record company, Warner Music
• Performed in 33 countries
• Performs with international sign language, ASL and spoken English
• Outstanding Young Person of the World (2009)
• The vocalist he works with is Bradon Bauer

Question 6

David Wright

Answer 6

• Born 1920 in South Africa with normal hearing
• At 7 years old he contracted scarlet fever and was deafened
• He is an author and poet
• Immigrated to England at 14 and attended Northampton school for the Deaf (oral school)
• Graduated from Oxford University in 1942
• Became a freelance writer in 1947 after writing for the Time newspaper for five years
• Co-founded X Magazine with Patrick Swift
• Wrote 3 books about Portugal with Patrick Swift
• Wrote his autobiography is 1969
• Held the Gregory fellowship in poetry at Leeds University in 1965
• Married twice
• Lived in the Lake District
• 1994 – died of cancer in East Sussex

Question 7

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

Answer 7

• 1787-1851
• Eldest of 13 children
• Earned a Bachelors and Masters degree at Yale University
• 1811, aged 24, he joined the ministry. He attended Andover Theological Seminary until 1814
• 1814, he saw a deaf child called Alice Cogswell (9 years old at the time) and decided to teach her by drawing in the dirt
• Alice’s father asked him to continue teaching her. He asked Gallaudet to go to Europe to find out more techniques
• In England, the Braidwood’s wouldn’t share their methods (oralism)
• While in England he met Abbe Sicard, Laurent Clerc and Jean Massieu from the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets of Paris
• He went to Paris to learn manualism
• He convinced Clerc to return to America with him and he learns sign language on the way back
• Raised funds to open the first permanent Deaf school in America in 1817.
• Originally the school was called The Connecticut Asylum (at Hartford) for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons and only had 7 students
• They have since had approximately 6000 graduates
• He married a former student, Sophia in 1821 and they had 8 children
• His youngest son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, opened the first Deaf university in America – Gallaudet University