15/06/2026
In early British deaf education, the word “asylum” (meaning a place of care) appears, which today carries negative connotations. However, evidence shows that this term played an important role in the development of the British Deaf community we see today.
In 1792, ‘welfare’ Britain proudly announced the establishment of its first free ‘school’ for the deaf, properly known as the "Asylum for the Support and Education of the Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor", or more frequently referred to in public newspapers as the "Asylum for Deaf and Dumb". It is interesting to note that the word “the” was omitted, suggesting that the committee sought to present deaf people as human beings to the wider public. The asylum was established in Bermondsey, Surrey, now part of London, under the headship of Joseph Watson. At the time, the focus was more on compassion and the protection of unfortunate working-class deaf individuals than on their education. This was reflected in the formal title of the asylum where “support” precedes “education”. The term “asylum” was eventually removed in 1908.
This development was significant, as it marked the start and which I call the ‘Big Bang’, of the “asylum” model. This was a turning point from which unprecedented numbers of working-class deaf people began to gather. This, in turn, inspired society to establish more deaf ‘schools’, often referred to as "institutions", across Britain. As a result, their different sign languages were brought together and gradually developed into a shared language: modern British Sign Language (BSL) within a single Deaf community. This development was particularly evident from 1984 onwards, influenced by television with the new appointment of culturally deaf BSL presenters such as Clark Denmark and other developments, such as an awarding body for BSL qualifications, the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People (CACDP), now referred to as Signature.
It is interesting to note that, in 1996, a deaf person from Liverpool signed slightly differently from a deaf person in Manchester; prior to this, their signing would have been completely different, following the establishment of the Manchester and Liverpool deaf institutions in 1825, where deaf children were allowed to develop their own sign language within the institution.
Peter R. Brown
