Oralism

Oralism came into play in America in the late 1860's, and is reffered to by some as the dark ages for the hearing impaired. It incorporated the use of lip reading, speech, and mastered breathing techniques to attempt to facilitate the communication of deaf people. To this day, it is still a controversial topic, and the argument as to how to best educate the hearing imparied rages on.

Oralism did not allow hand movements or gestures, and looked down upon signing, even though this was by far the most effective way for the deaf to communicate. Manualism, another available method for teaching the deaf to communicate, proved to be more effective, and cited reasons for the ineffectuality of oralism including the limiting nature of the communication itself, the frustration and anger experienced by the pupils, and the unnatural way in which it was tought and recieved.

Oralism eventually failed. The education of young deaf students was spent completely and totally on speech. No math, no science, no literature or other subjects of study were even available. Students would often say, in frustration, "Talking just isn't that important to me."