THE ROLE OF MEDICAL-TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE MILAN CONFERENCE 1880. THE FIRST MECHANICAL HEARING AIDS

Abstract

It is widely known that the use of sign language to educate the deaf was prohibited during the so-called Milan Conference in
1880. But it has not been addressed at depth what was happening in the world of medicine, or what influence this had on the
decisions that were made. We think that the various medical-technical developments that were made during 1880 must have
had a decisive impact on the decision to prohibit the use of sign language. Towards the end of the 19th century the exact nature
of deafness was still unknown, and from a medical viewpoint education was the best way of addressing and resolving problems
with loss of hearing. An interesting observation is that the first device referred to as a heading aid — Rhodes’ Audiophone —
was developed during the beginning of 1880. It was a mechanical hearing aid that became used as a base for other devices
presented that same year, trying to improve on its design and function. We also note that the first tests were undertaken to
create an electronic hearing aid, using technology developed by Bell for his telephone (the patent of which dates from 1876).
All these medical-technical developments gave rise to great interest and expectations among the professionals. They created
a belief that deafness was something that could be cured, and that scientific developments would soon provide a possibility to
eradicate it altogether. We must remember that sign language was not considered a real language, and that it was seen as
something that made deaf people subject to social exclusion. In this context, and also taking into account that they believed
deaf people could start hearing, we think that the professionals concluded that it would be better to abandon use of sign
language and only use oral language, the only language believed to be full and inclusive.