1 Chapter 1: The development of education for blind people The development of education for blind people Legacy of the Past The book Legacy of the Past (Some aspects of the history of blind educa- tion, deaf education, and deaf-blind education with emphasis on the time before 1900) contains three chapters: Chapter 1: The development of education for blind people Chapter 2: The development of education for deaf people Chapter 3: The development of education for deaf-blind people In all 399 pp. An internet edition of the whole book in one single document would be very unhandy. Therefore, I have divided the book into three documents (three inter- netbooks). In all, the three documents contain the whole book. Legacy of the Past. This Internetbook is Chapter 1: The development of education for blind people. Foreword In his Introduction the author expresses very clearly that this book is not The history of blind education, deaf education and deaf-blind education but some aspects of their history of education with emphasis on the time before 1900. Nevertheless - having had the privilege of reading it - my opinion is that this volume must be one of the most extensive on the market today regarding this part of the history of special education. For several years now I have had the great pleasure of working with the author, and I am not surprised by the fact that he really has gone to the basic sources trying to find the right answers and perspectives. Who are they - and in what ways have societies during the centuries faced the problems? By going back to ancient sources like the Bible, the Holy Koran and to Nordic Myths the author gives the reader an exciting perspective; expressed, among other things, by a discussion of terms used through our history. As I am trying to say, Dr. Enerstvedt not only presents a historical survey, rather he discusses the situation of the blind, the deaf and the deaf-blind in the context of the actual time they were living in. Dr. Enerstvedt is not only a theoretical researcher - he also has a practical experience from the field, which he reveals in his discussion on methods. The book has the character of having been written by a professional in so- ciology and by a person with a deep understanding and knowledge in special education. As said earlier, this volume is not a bare historical outline, but is also a 2 Legacy of the Past -–Those who are gone but have not left story of individuals and their helpers from the Antiquity and beyond - to our time. This book should be of great interest to all of us working with sensory- deprived people, to parents and to students in the area of education, psychology, sociology and other related areas. Oslo 28th of May 1996 Knut Arnesen Director Skådalen Resource Centre for Special Education of the Hearing Impaired and the Deaf-Blind Introduction The present book is not The history of blind education, deaf education, and deaf-blind education. It is not A history of ..., it is precisely what is stated in the title: Some aspects of the history of blind education, deaf education, and deaf- blind education with emphasis on the time before 1900. My own qualifications for trying to make a contribution to the field of deaf- ness, blindness, and deaf-blindness: My main profession is that of a professor of sociology, Department of So- ciology, University of Oslo. I am Senior Research Officer at Skådalen Resource Centre for Special Education of the Hearing Impaired and the Deaf-Blind (pre- viously: Skådalen School). I worked as care-worker at a residential school for deaf and deaf-blind children in Oslo - Skådalen school - from January 1990 to July 1991. Previous to that I worked for more than a year as a relief worker at the same institu- tion/school (from October 1988 to December 1989). During the autumn of 1991 I studied deaf-blindness with Sense - The Na- tional Deafblind and Rubella Association in the UK, at Sense in the Midlands, i.e. a regional centre for Sense in Birmingham. The first half of the year 1993 I studied deaf-blindness at Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, USA. Although my interest in working with deaf-blind people primarily was a theoretical and general one - that of the essence of communication and language - my actual work with deaf-blind persons altered my perspectives. I am still intere- sted in the general theoretical questions of communication and language and plan to write something on that subject. However, I have gradually become more and more interested in the lives and fates of deaf-blind people. In the beginning I me- rely wanted to give a very brief historical overview before I came to my main interest, that of the communication of (and with) deaf-blind people. However, my studies led to an interest in the history of both deaf and blind education. I recog- nized the necessity of studying blindness and deafness as prerequisite to un- derstanding deaf-blindness, although the latter is not merely the sum of deafness and blindness. The result is this book - the first part of my main project: the communication of (and with) deaf-blind people. It is the result of the practical experience and theoretical studies of several years. 3 Chapter 1: The development of education for blind people It is impossible to mention all the people who have been important and help- ful in my work. However, some persons without whom this and the next book never could have been published, deserve being named. To exemplify this help would require the space of a great book in itself! (Perhaps such a book should be written so that the reader might understand that every book is a collective pro- duct.) In alphabetic order : Yerker Andersson, Abdel Magid Al-Araki, Thomas E. Allen, Eldbjørg Arne- sen, Knut Arnesen, Jim Banta, Cafer Barkus, Anne-Grete Barlaug, Mike Bello, Carol Benoit, Barbara Birge, Lynne F. Bernstein, Peter Blackwell, Delma Boyce, Martin Jon Bray, John Bridge, Silje Brosvik, Norman Brown, Wendy Buckley, Tony Bugge, Eddie Calhoun, Linda Callahan, Cristina Castro, Rodney Clark, Gini Cloke, Carol Crook, Steve Davis, Lorraine Delhorne, Susan DeCaluwe, Jennifer R. Douglas, Nat Durlach, Steinar Dybvad, Kimberly Emrick, Åse Enerstvedt, Bård Engen, Elizabeth Engen, Trygg Engen, Paul Ennals, Lyn Faulkener, Marte Feiring, Arvid Fennefoss, Peter Fitzgibbons, Janice C.Gatty, Dennis Gjerdingen, Debbie Gleason, Unni Gran, Mary Grannell, William Green, Sharon Grey, Torill Grønhaug, Terje Haraldsen, Virginia Harris, John Hatton, Rosie Hayes, Margareta Henriksson, Karen Hern, Mary Hill-Peters, Angunn Hirth, Gunnar Høgden, Ro- bert J. Hoffmeister, Grete Høie, Lisa Holden-Pitt, Alvina Holyoake, Deborah Hughes, Yvonne Hurley, Bitten Haavik Ikdahl, Carolyn Jones, Steve Kiekopf, Tony Kirk, Mari Klashaugen, Christine Lebert, Christopher Leek, Fridtjof Lehne, Dot Leslie, Lauren Lieberman, Bård A. Lindgaard, Marjorie Magner, Martha Majors, David S.Martin, Barbara Mason, Donna Mehan, Beth Miller, Astrid Moe, Donald F. Moores, Marsha Morales, David Morrison, William A.Moses, Mogol Musa, Anne Nafstad, Hilde Nes, Maurin Nichols, Kathy Norris, Trine Noven, Debra Nussbaum, Cyndi O'Brian, Christine Peatman, Geoff Plant, Susan Powers, Julie Pratt, Charlotte Reed, Sally Revoile, Bjørg Rike, Nan Robbins, Harold Ro- bertson, Joan Robertson, Arthur A.Roehrig, Liv Rolandsen, Lynda Samourian, Janet Sauerwein, Odd-Inge Schrøder, Gretha Seeland, Philip Franz D.Seitz; Eva Seljestad, Lynne Silverstone, Anita Simonsen, Eva Simonsen, Anne Skhakeshaft, Trygve Skomedal, Christin Sletten, Julie Smith, Robert J. Smithdas, Bob Snow, Astrid Sund, Tonje Sørensen, Sharon Stelzer, Kathleen E. Stock, Erling Stor- haug, Bob Storm, Kenneth Stuckey, Jan Svendsen, Else Marie Svingen, Jeri Traub, Kurt Vinterhøj, Arnfinn Vonen, Bettie Waddy-Smith, Claire Wade, Julie Waters, David Williams, Bernadette Wynne, Mary Zatta. My thoughts also go to all the tutors (house/residential workers; "program aids") I have worked with. Except for two or three cases; this was a successful cooperation in which I learned very much. Last but not least; the deaf-blind students and their parents have been decisi- ve to my learning in this very difficult subject. The following institutions also were of major importance for my work: The University of Oslo - Department of Sociology; Skådalen Resource Cen- tre for Special Education of the Hearing Impaired and the Deaf-blind, Oslo; Sosi- aldepartementet (Royal Norwegian Ministry of Social Welfare), Oslo ; Statens Sentralteam for Døvblinde (Norwegian Central Team for the Deaf-Blind), Oslo; Faglitterær forfatterforening (The Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translaters Association), Oslo; Borlaugs legat (Borlaug's legacy); The National Deafblind and Rubella Association (Sense) - Sense in the Midlands, Birmingham, Great Britain; 4 Legacy of the Past -–Those who are gone but have not left Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Massachusetts; Clarke School for the Deaf, Northampton, Massachusetts; Rhode Island School for the Deaf, Provi- dence, Rhode Island; Helen Keller National Center for Deafblind Youths and Adults (HKNC), New York; Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.; The Lear- ning Center for Deaf Children, Framingham, Massachusetts; Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.1 The development of education for blind people They were white, black, brown, yellow, red. They were of every race and every faith, of every class and every station, in every land under every sky. Some were born to their fate; others came to it through caprice of accident, or in the heat of battle, or by dint of a ruler's cruel decree. They were the blind - uncounted generations of them over the centuries, 15 million or more alive in the world today (Koestler,F.A. 1976, p. 1) Shooting stars on the horizon of deep darkness? Monbeck points out that although the number of blind people has never been large, blindness was somewhat more common in the ancient world than it is today, at least as in the United States and Western Europe.