Background

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There were several factors that led to the opening of The Institute National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris. Before the school opened, many people looked down on deaf people and they treated them poorly (“Charles Michel de L’Epee’”). They were said to be treated as if they were not human and treated badly. In the past, before the National Institute for Deaf Youth had been opened, many other teachers had tried to teach deaf students to speak and understand their language (De L'Epee). The founder of the National Institute for Deaf Youth, Abbe De L’Epee, realized that before him the people who tried to teach the deaf people had tried and failed to teach the deaf and instead took advantage of the deaf deaf students they taught (De L'Epee). After meeting two deaf sisters and seeing that they used hand signs, he and others at the school made a hand language that is now called the Old French Sign Language (Clerc 4). This sign language helped prove to the world that deaf people are still equal to them and they can still be intelligent even though they can not hear ("Charles Michel de L'Eppe"). ​​​​​​​