UAD - A Look Back

by Robert G. Sanderson, 2001

... About 70 years...

1930:

A few of you were children just learning how to sign at USDB. I joined you in 1931.
A few teachers could sign; most could not.
Speech lip-reading, grammar, reading, arithmetic, printing, woodwork, shoe repair, sewing and home making.
We were being prepared for jobs that hearing people decided were the best jobs for us deaf students. A few kids were sent on to Gallaudet College.
No telephones for the deaf! Want to call home? -- had to go through a teacher or the principal, who would talk a lot but tell you almost nothing.
Hearing aids were big black boxes bouncing between your boobs.
Movies? No captions -- but we went anyway just to get away from school for a few hours.
Interpreters? Some "CODAs" (signers) volunteered in church but they were not recognized as professionals. Many were not even known as interpreters -- deaf people jut said, "will you please sign for me," not "will you interpret for me."
The "30s" were hard times for everyone -- the Great Depression. Sometimes deaf children at USDB were eating better than their brothers, sisters and parents at home!

1940:

Changes began to take place.
Gallaudet began expanding course offerings because deaf students themselves began demanding more and better job opportunities.
Then the World War II opened up new jobs for deaf people -- workers were needed for the war industries. Business and industry found that most deaf people were just as good as hearing workers, and were willing to train them.
Plenty of jobs -- yes, but some deaf people did not want to work because peddling was easier! Most hard working deaf people had pride in themselves and objected to the bad impression hearing people got when deaf peddlers begged for money.

1945:

This year can be identified as a "landmark" in the modern history of deaf people: Boyce R. Williams, a graduate of the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and of Gallaudet, was appointed to the position of Consultant for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Speech Impaired, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
At the time, he was the highest deaf appointee in the Federal government. He used the position to influence high-level officials to begin a series of workshops that focused attention on the long neglected needs of deaf people.
These workshops involved deaf people, the NAD and hearing officials from all over the country, with profound impact on our lives.

1950s:

Change became very rapid. Wartime technology was adapted to business, industry, state and federal governments. More opportunities opened up for educated and trained deaf people. Community college and vocational schools opened their doors to deaf students, and CODAs became more available as "terps".

1960s:

Workshops from the RSA and the Dept of Education encouraged deaf people to develop! Leadership training workshops popped up all over the country, including one in Salt Lake City in August 1969.
In 1963, San Fernando Valley State College (later California State University at Northridge [CSUN]) established a Masters Degree program, Leadership Training Program in the area of the Deaf, which shook up the education establishment throughout the country. Most of the graduates of the "LTP" program became administrators in education and rehabilitation of the deaf.
Other workshops focused on interpreting as a profession, developing training programs. Interpreting today is far different from what it was in 1969.
The UAD, with the cooperation of the Division of Rehabilitation, sponsored workshops that developed certification and training for interpreters. The UAD also applied for and received a grant for the hiring of two full-time interpreters in 1981-1982. Eventually all of this led to the establishment of the Utah Registry of Interpreters and the Certification Board, and state laws governing both.

1964:

Robert Weitbrecht invented the acoustic coupler and the system of using TTY's for communication over the telephone! He was an "orally" trained scientist. He and Dr. James C. Marsters, a deaf orthodontist set up the first company to market TTYs. Boy, how we loved those old TTYs! At long last, we deaf people could use the telephone without depending on friends and relatives and our children.
Developments came rapidly after that!
The first nationally circulated ASL book came on the market: "Talk with Your Hands", by David O. Watson in 1964. After that wonderful book, many others followed.

1970s:

Digital TDDs came on the market.
Captioned Films came along.
Hearing aids kept getting smaller.
Implants became common.
American Sign Language books published by the NAD and later by many other companies saturated the market.
Sign Language became popular; and slowly, every so slowly, education began to accept ASL as a language, and in the

1980s:

1987:

The UAD persuaded the Utah State Legislature to authorize a fee on telephones to get money to setup a Utah Relay service for the deaf. The UAD bid for and received the first contract to set up and operate the system, and has operated it since. (1987 to 1999).

1990s:

The UAD Bulletin, long published as a quarterly, became a regular monthly publication, free to members of the UAD and friends.

So now that is a look back. We deaf people should be very grateful for the things we have today:

Most of all we should not tear down our deaf leaders and the organizations that work for all deaf people in Utah.