ABSTRACT
Perhaps more than any other topic, the study of language, cognition, and deafness has shown major shifts in theory and practice over the last 50 years. When Pintner first published his historically important studies in 1916, the world was in the throes of the “war to end wars” and the depression of the 1930s loomed mistily on the horizon (see Pintner & Reamer, 1916). The prevailing professional view of deaf children was that they were “defective” and, although educable, they would have to be rehabilitated to take their place in life—a place that would by definition be more limited than that of a hearing person. Seventy or so years later, we are more likely to view the deaf person as an individual and to try to distinguish those effects that result from an inability to hear from the social, educational, and cultural deprivation that results from our attitudes toward deaf people and other minority groups. Although we cannot yet say that deaf people have social justice and equality with hearing people, we can say that in the last 20 years there have been major changes in our attitudes. We are now more likely to perceive deaf people as candidates for employment in senior positions, to offer them better educational opportunities, and to accept their right to self-government and self-organization within their own culture.
