YDS READING PASSAGES / TEST 3 55. Soru

-19. A BRIEF HISTORY of SPECIAL EDUCATION

Modern special education got its start in Spain during the 16th century with classes for the deaf. Pedro Ponce de Leon was able to teach deaf students to speak, read and write. A successor of Leon, Juan Pablo Bonet, adopted the same methods and published a book on the subject in 1620. The success of teaching the deaf in Spain soon aroused interest in the problem throughout Europe. In France, in the 18th century, Charles-Michel developed a sign language for the deaf for use both as a means of teaching and for ordinary conversation. Attempts to educate the blind were not undertaken until the end of the 18th century. The first outstanding teacher was Valentin Hauy of France, who has been called the "father and apostle of the blind." He opened an institute for blind children in Paris in 1784. Following his success, similar schools were established over the next 25 years in Liverpool, Vienna, London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich. Schools for the blind were founded in Boston, Mass., and New York City in 1832. Attempts to teach the mentally retarded also started in France, but not until the early 19th century. The first significant efforts were made by a physician named Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, who had devoted much time and money to teaching deaf-mutes. His now-classic book, The Wild Boy of Aveyron, tells how he succeeded in educating an uncivilised 11-year-old boy who had been found living in a forest. Itard's work was taken up by Edouard Seguin, a French psychiatrist. He opened a school for the mentally retarded in 1839 that became internationally known. In 1848 he immigrated to the United States. There he founded the Seguin Psychological School in Orange, N.J. His work, in turn, influenced Maria Montessori, one of the most widely acclaimed innovators in modern schooling.

According to the passage, sign language ------ .