Resumen de El papel de los avances médico-técnicos en las conclusiones del Congreso de Milán de 1880. Los primeros audífonos mecánicos
- español
Es ampliamente conocido que en 1880, en el denominado Congreso de Milán, se prohibió el uso de la lengua de signos para educar a las personas sordas. Sin embargo, no se ha abordado en profundidad lo que sucedía en el mundo de la medicina ni su influencia en las resoluciones tomadas. En 1880 se producen diversos avances médico-técnicos que pensamos debieron influir de manera decisiva en la prohibición de la lengua de signos. A finales del S. XIX, en que se desconocida con exactitud qué era la sordera, desde la medicina la educación era vista como la mejor forma de abordar y resolver el problema de la falta de audición. Es interesante constatar que el primer aparto denominado audífono, el Audífono de Rhodes, se dio a conocer a inicios de 1880. Se trataba de un audífono mecánico a partir del cual surgieron, también durante 1880, otros dispositivos que intentaban mejorar su diseño y prestaciones. Asimismo observamos que, partiendo de la tecnología del teléfono de Bell (cuya patente data de 1876), se empezaron a realizar los primeros ensayos para conseguir un audífono eléctrico. Todos estos avances médico-técnicos despertaron gran interés y expectativas entre los profesionales. Se llegó a creer que la sordera era curable y que los avances científicos estaban cercanos a erradicarla. No podemos olvidar que la lengua de signos no era considerada una verdadera lengua y que se creía condenaba a los sordos a la exclusión social. En este contexto, y considerando que se creía que los sordos llegarían a oír, pensamos que los profesionales pudieron concluir que era mejor abandonar el uso de la lengua de signos y usar sólo la lengua oral, que era la única que se creía plena e integradora
- English
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
