1000 BC: Hebrew Law: Deaf rights denied

In Jewish legislation deaf and dumb persons are frequently classed with minors and idiots.

800 BC - 146 BC: Ancient Greece

The Greeks felt it was better to kill anyone with a disability.

The deaf were especially considered a burden in Athens, where it was believed that anyone who would be a "burden to society" should be put to death.

470 - 399 BC: Socrates: "The deaf express themselves in gestures..."

Socrates mentions that the deaf express themselves in gestures movement.

384 - 322 BC: Aristotle: "Deaf people can not be educated..."

Ancient Greeks denied deaf education.

+/- 5 BC: Quintus Pedius, Painter (IT)

Quintus Pedius (died about 13) was a Roman painter and the first deaf person in recorded history known by name. He is the first recorded deaf painter and his education is the first recorded education of a deaf child. All that is known about him today is contained in a single passage of the Natural History by the Roman author Pliny the Elder.

1454 - 1513: Pinturicchio, Painter (IT)

Bernardino di Betto, known also as Pintoricchio, was born between 1456 and 1460 in Perugia to a modest family of artisans. His real name was Betti Biagi, but he was often called Sordicchio, from his deafness and insignificant appearance, but Pinturicchio was his usual name.

1440 -1486: Cristoforo de Predis, Illuminator (IT)

Cristoforo de Predis (also called Cristoforo de Preda ) was an illuminator active in Milan between 1467 and 1486.

1465? -1548: Joanot de Pau (Joan Pau Guardiola), Painter (ES)

Joanot de Pau was an active painter in the Segarra, Solsonès and several Pyrenean regions. He is remembered, above all, for being born deaf-mute. 

Dark and Middle Ages: Objects of Ridicule

Deaf adults are objects of ridicule and are committed to asylums.

1500s: Geronimo Cardano: Deaf people are capable of using their minds (IT)

Geronimo Cardano was the first physician to recognize the ability of the deaf to reason.

1520 - 1584: Pedro Ponce de León, the first teacher of the deaf (ES)

Dom Pedro Ponce de Leon, O.S.B., (1520–1584) was a Spanish Benedictine monk who is often credited as being "the first teacher for the deaf".

His work with deaf children focused on helping them to learn how to speak language audibly. He also instructed children in writing and in simple gestures.

1526 – 1579: Juan Fernandez Navarrete, Painter (ES)

Juan Fernandez de Navarrete was born in the beautiful town of Navarre, Spain near the mountain range of the Pyrenees. He was called El Mudo (the mute) since childhood. He lost his hearing at the age of three and never learned to talk.

Juan's amazing drawings skills became evident when he began communicating his needs by drawing them out with charcoal on paper. The young artist never allowed his disabilities to hamper his dreams or ambitions and allowed his art to become his voice.