He also recalled that students got to take trips into downtown Danville twice a week .
“ They had a theater downtown , and we got to go see a movie for 25 or 50 cents ,” he said .
They would also go to bakeries or other stores , he added .
“ It used to be a state-supported school , but as years have gone by its gone down ,” he said . “ The state made them sell off some of the land . Some of the buildings had to be tore down because they were too expensive to maintain .”
Still , Dowlen has a lot of fond memories of going there , he said . “ We had a lot of training at our school . We had dry cleaning , alteration , printing , we had wood working , we had auto body , we had cosmetology , home economics , and typing .”
He also got to meet a lot of other people , some of them from other schools .
“ Some friends of mine went to Lexington . That was a Lexington deaf school , but it was it was an ‘ oral school .’ In other words , you didn ’ t sign , you moved your mouth . You learned to read lips and that ’ s how they communicated . They didn ’ t believe in sign language . Don ’ t ask me why .”
Oral learning or oralism was a method of teaching deaf students only through lip reading or forming shapes with their mouths . The practice of only using oralism as a teaching method has fallen out of favor in recent years , with good reason – the limiting factor of only using ones ’ mouth to communicate is not only not as expressive as American Sign Language ( ASL ), and it doesn ’ t always help the student understand what the word they were trying to imitate actually means .
There was a time , however , when supposed experts believed oralism was the best way to teach deaf students , with some even going so far as to prevent students from using any form of manual sign communications .
One of the proponents of teaching deaf students in the manner they learn best – either by using oralism , sign language or a combination , was the original president of Gallaudet University , Edward Miner Gallaudet . He served from 1864 to 1910 .
It was Gallaudet University ’ s creation , and President Abraham Lincoln ’ s signing of the university ’ s charter on April 8 , 1864 , that is another of the historical moments that establishes Deaf History Month ’ s dates .
However , some of Gallaudet ’ s contemporaries , such as Alexander Graham Bell – he of telephone fame – thought that oralism was the best way to assimilate deaf people into what he felt was the mainstream world . According to historians , Bell strongly advocated against the use of sign language and even lobbied against allowing deaf people to marry each other to prevent a “ deaf variety of the human race ” from forming .
Based on the beliefs of Bell and similar “ scholars ,” the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf which met in 1880 passed a resolution banning the used of sign language in schools . The U . S . and European countries followed through , and only advocated for the use
“ of speech and lip-based teachings for deaf students .
While Gallaudet University and other places rejected that line of thought and continued to teach via sign language , it wasn ’ t until the 2010 International Congress on the Education of the Deaf that the 1880 resolution was formally retracted .
In more modern times , there has been an embracing of technology by many in the deaf community to both correct hearing loss and to help deaf people and hearing people communicate better .
Dowlen said he knows several people – parents who are deaf themselves – who decided to have their children receive cochlear implants . “ I ’ m really proud of them , [ the children ] have done well ,” he said .
He also noted the features that can now be found at the push of a button on a modern cell phone which can be used to help with communication . Not only can people communicate easily via text or email , but Dowlen explained that he has the number of a video relay service called Sorenson on his phone .
Using the video features on his phone , Dowlen said he can connect to a certified ASL interpreter . He can use sign language to talk , and that interpreter can then relay that information to whoever Dowlen needs to talk with , meaning he can communicate in real time with people who do not understand ASL , such as a doctor or an insurance agent .
Sorenson is a federal government program , he said .
“ It ’ s made communication a lot different .”
“ Then , when I went to the deaf school , we had smaller classes . The teachers were very patient and made sure you understood before you left [ the classroom ].”
- Joel Dowlen
30 • SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky March 2023