I do, however, use the word deaf-mute to translate the Spanish sordomudo, which was common throughout the 1800s. Today the term sordomudo is rejected by the Spanish Deaf community and its supporters (as is its English counterpart deaf-mute in the United States), although it may still be employed by Spaniards unaware of—or indifferent to—its pejorative connotations. I have chosen to use the term deaf-mute (and occasionally mute) for the sake of historical accuracy; no offense should be taken and no negative implications are intended.
Two themes appear and reappear throughout this work: the nineteenth- century construction of deafness and the status of Spanish Sign Language and its use in the classroom (always key issues in deaf education). The latter topic is of particular interest in light of Lane’s hypothesis on the role of deaf teachers in educating deaf children. According to Lane, “If the profession of deaf education acknowledged that deaf children have a language and that manual language is the best way to educate these children, then deaf adults would once again enter the profession (as they did in the [nineteenth] century), and hearing people would lose their monopoly.”16 The lessons of Spanish Deaf history call this assertion into question, however, because during the 1800s, educators at the Madrid school recognized that their pupils had a language and championed its use as a medium of instruction; but even so, for the better part of the century, they did not allow deaf adults to enter the profession.
Two themes appear and reappear throughout this work: the nineteenth- century construction of deafness and the status of Spanish Sign Language and its use in the classroom (always key issues in deaf education). The latter topic is of particular interest in light of Lane’s hypothesis on the role of deaf teachers in educating deaf children. According to Lane, “If the profession of deaf education acknowledged that deaf children have a language and that manual language is the best way to educate these children, then deaf adults would once again enter the profession (as they did in the [nineteenth] century), and hearing people would lose their monopoly.”16 The lessons of Spanish Deaf history call this assertion into question, however, because during the 1800s, educators at the Madrid school recognized that their pupils had a language and championed its use as a medium of instruction; but even so, for the better part of the century, they did not allow deaf adults to enter the profession.
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