8). This form of communication discourages sign language and hand gestures. Before Oralism, in the late 19th century, Deaf institutions used sign language as their primary form of communication, and on average, academic achievement was high in these schools (Carver, 1988, para. 3). Things changed in 1870 when Alexander Graham Bell entered the scene. Bell believed that sign language had a negative effect on society, as it encouraged deaf people to form small, inclusive communities. In the early 1900s, Bell banned all forms of sign language in schools, arguing that “educators and society at large should do their best to ignore deafness” (Baynton & Ayim, 1997, para. 15). Oralism thrived until the 1960s, when linguists officially recognized ASL as a “full-fledged language” (“Deafness as Culture,” 1993, para. 16). However, oralism is still a major concern for deaf people in North America, as many medical and educational professionals continue to encourage it as the best form of communication (Ubelacker, 1988, para.