<P> The largest group of students during the first seven decades of the school were from Martha 's Vineyard , and they brought MVSL with them . There were also 44 students from around Henniker , New Hampshire , and 27 from the Sandy River valley in Maine , each of which had their own village sign language . Other students brought knowledge of their own home signs . Laurent Clerc , the first teacher at ASD , taught using French Sign Language ( LSF ) , which itself had developed in the Parisian school for the deaf established in 1755 . From this situation of language contact , a new language emerged , now known as ASL . </P>
<P> The largest group of students during the first seven decades of the school were from Martha 's Vineyard , and they brought MVSL with them . There were also 44 students from around Henniker , New Hampshire , and 27 from the Sandy River valley in Maine , each of which had their own village sign language . Other students brought knowledge of their own home signs . Laurent Clerc , the first teacher at ASD , taught using French Sign Language ( LSF ) , which itself had developed in the Parisian school for the deaf established in 1755 . From this situation of language contact , a new language emerged , now known as ASL . </P>
who brought sign language from france to america
who brought sign language from france to america
Laurent Clerc
Laurent Clerc