Deaf-Mutia: Responses to Alienation by the Deaf in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

The development of the deaf community in the mid-nineteenth century was intimately linked to schooling. Although a matrix of variables contributed, a major factor underlying the community's enduring strength was the alienation suffered by deaf persons in society. To counter this alienation, proposals emerged throughout the nineteenth century for the formation of a separate deaf state. The most significant of these was the plan of Flournoy in the late 1850s.