The name Ferdinand Berthier, to this date, is sacred in the history of the deaf learning and activism. Berthier is a French educator, an activist, and among the initial individuals who could be considered as the pioneer of deaf intellectualism. His work was instrumental in changing the educational systems that affected the deaf community and also promoted a positive identity of the deaf people. This paper seeks to discuss Ferdinand Berthier’s life, work, and contributions which greatly influenced specific education for the deaf persons.
Early Life and Education
Noticing Precursors: Hurdles in Early Ages
Ferdinand Berthier was born on the 30 the of September in the year 1803, in Louhans, France. At his birth, Berthier had to start struggling with the condition which is nowadays known as impaired hearing and in the conditions of the community which during the XVIII century was not prepared to accept the people with hearing impairments at all. His childhood and youth was filled with efforts to make the world hear him as there were almost no schools for deaf children in Britain at that time.
Nevertheless, there remained certain inherent difficulties within Berthier’s character; however, the intelligence as well as curiosity with which he was endowed could not be faulted. His parents and relatives, being aware of this, tried to find an opportunity to create conditions in which he could receive education which would enable him make himself understood. This search led them to National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris which was to alter Berthier’s life .
National Institute for Deaf-Mutes
When Berthier was 10 years old he became a student at the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris which was established by the famous educator Abbé de l’Épée . The Institute was one of the first of its kind in the world, and the official education which was provided by the Institution was concerned a structured form of the education system for the deaf people. There is the beginning of using sign language which was to become one of the ways by which Berthier could communicate with the world.
National Institute for the Deaf in addition to giving Berthier an academic education also exposed him to other people with similar problems and issues. This environment provoked Berthier’s mental development and created a background for his further achievements in the field of deaf schooling.
Academic and Professional Achievements
Becoming a Scholar and Educator
When Ferdinand Berthier graduated from the National Institute, he returned to it as a teacher, which was quite unusual for a deaf man at the time – making him one of the pioneers in the field. Indeed there was no better person for the job since he understood the struggles of the deaf students and the form and richness of the sign language.
It was this course that I started taking at the National Institute and it was in this course that I realized that I could teach.
Instructing techniques revolutionized by Berthier applied for the progressive period. Pride focused on the duality of sign language as a credible way of interacting with the world to negate the idea of the oralism (teaching deaf individuals speech and lip-reading as more effective). Berthier was also promoting the sign language as a means of promoting the cultural aspect of the ‘deaf’ people
He also committed himself to his students, and researched for new strategies and resources that would improve the education of the Deaf. Berthier’s work at the Institute prepared for the modern approaches to the education of the deaf and dumb which is based on the use of the sign language and the teaching for sight.
Besides books, several of these gentlemen have authored and published numerous articles in the Deaf literature, particularly in the American Annals for the Deaf, a peer review journal as the third hypothesis holds.
However, it is quite a pity that teaching was not the only occupation of Ferdinand Berthier: he was a writer, a scholar as well. He published several books and articles regarding the education of the deaf, the sign language, and the history of the deaf people. Some of the prominent works of Henry, being: ‘The History of Deaf-Mutes and Sign Language’, a content-rich work that expounded the processes of evolution and the importance of sign language.
In addition to being informative, Berthier’s work was in some ways, prescriptive. He employed his authority to dispel the myths about deafness and fight for the deaf people’s rights granted in this country. The works he has produced in the deaf literature played an important role in the fight to raise the standard of sign language as well as encouraged pride among the deaf people.
Advocacy and Leadership
Advocacy for Deaf persons;Â
Ferdinand Berthier was an educator, but he was much more than that: he was a fighter for the rights of the deaf. In addition to teaching and writing, the systematic social and legal reinvention of the deaf community in France and beyond was his lifelong struggle.
Formation of the First ever Congress of the Deaf-Mute People
Berthier has been able to achieve many thing in his lifetime but most important and memorable was formation of first congress of Deaf-Mute in Paris in the year 1834. This set a gathering of the deaf people of France to deliberate on their problems and effects of education, employment, and civil rights. It lay the foundation to a change of fortunes of the deaf rights movement because the Congress gave the deaf their voice, and their avenue to demand their rights.
The way Berthier was able to mobilise the Congress proved that he was focused on enabling the deaf. He used to firmly trust that the Deaf people should participate in the decisions made for them and so fought for this to happen.
Advocacy for Deaf Education and Employment
Berthier was always passionate for the further development of education available for the deaf people all across his life. He advocated for better support on the part of French government for educating deaf, and for sign language as an acceptable kind of language. Berthier also committed himself for employment of the deaf, stating that the deaf should be allowed to secure employment like any other person with hearing ability.
He carried out advocacy not only in France. Berthier communicated with other deaf educators/activists from other countries to exchange information as well as means and ways to fight for and gain equal rights for deaf people all over the world. He has organized and spearheaded the deaf civil rights campaign up to the present.
Legacy and Impac
The Continuation of Ferdinand Berthier’s Legacy
I am grateful for having read this paper in that it cements the dawn of real positive change on the deaf community to Ferdinand Berthier’s account. His work contributed to raising status of sign language and the rights of the deaf people not only in France but also in other countries.
Recognition and Honors
In order to express appreciation for his deeds Ferdinand Berthier was decorated as Légion d’Honneur, which is one of the important awards of France. This award was a recognition of the importance of his work and of the recognition he gained within the deaf and the hearing impaired individuals.
Berthier would list the destiny of the institutions and organizations that he had founded, as well as numerous deaf clients who were beneficiaries of his efforts. The National Institute for Deaf-Mutes now teaches deaf people in Paris under the name of the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, the institution Berthier started.
Impact on the present dea Education System
Berthier impact surpassed the institutions which he formed. He played an active role in promoting the use of sign language and for the welfare of the disabled particularly of the deaf and dumb today has a significant influence on modern education for the deaf. In the modern world, sign language is being treated as one of the vital modes of interaction and the deaf people enjoy much more opportunities in education and at work than few decades ago.
Ferdinand Berthier’s work also paved way for generations to come of the deaf educators and activists. Today, his works remain crucial to scholars interested in the deaf history and his life is a perfect illustration of what is possible if one is willing to work hard, is smart and has some measure of commitment to the right course.
Conclusion
The educational and advocacy efforts of Ferdinand Berthier cannot be questioned – he was one of the first educators of deaf people ever. His entire life’s work revolutionised how people perceive and communicating with the deaf and hard of hearing persons and his work is still relevant to the lives of such persons to date. Berthier avocated for the deaf people’s rights and equality in all spheres of life, engaging in teaching and writing as well as social activism. He will always be remembered as one of the most outstanding visionaries of the deaf history and his effort to the deaf community cannot be measured.
Thus, solving such problems, not only we will honor the memory of Ferdinand Berthier, but also deepen our knowledge of the battle for justice and equal rights today. From Berthier’s account, people should be made aware that all the citizens have equal rights, irrespective of the disability they possess and that education can change one’s life.
The work and achievements of Ferdinand Berthier are a clear indication that the deaf community is strong and will fight for its rights to be accepted by the rest of society and this struggle will go on to other generations.
