Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born on December 10, 1787 in Philadelphia. He was a very smart and intelligent student. He graduated from Yale Collage in 1805, after his graduation, he studied theology.His interest in teaching and finding out more about deaf people, developed when he met a little girl. The first time he saw her, he somehow knew he had to help her. During this time period, there were no schools for the deaf, so Thomas decided that he is going to teach her. He succeeded and wanted to find out more about the ways in teaching deaf people. He asked people for donations to establish a school and to travel to Europe. In Europe, there were already schools established for deaf people; he wanted to learn from them. In Britain he had no luck, but therefore in France he did. The French showed him their way of teaching the deaf, with the sign language.People donated money, yet not everybody did, but the majority did. The money he had collected was enough to pay the trip. In France he studied the sigh language and mastered it. Because he has spent all his money in Europe, he tried to raise money again. This time it was harder, but he was able to collect enough. Then he established the first school for the deaf; it was called “Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Institution of the Deaf and the Dumb Persons”.Even though Thomas didn’t like this name he had to keep it because the government gave it to him. The school was running really good. Thomas even improved the French sign language, by making it easier, and by adding new words to it, so the students would understand better. He also, made some people realize that deaf people are not dumb and that deafness is not a brain disease. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was appointed first professorship in the US for the philosophy of education at New York University. Thomas had some really famous supporters at that time, like President Monroe and John Quincy Adams. His work had...
