The 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf (ICED) was held on July 19th in Vancouver, Canada. At the opening ceremony a clear statement of principle was made in which ICED expressed regret about the outcomes of the infamous 2nd congress held in Milan in 1880.

The 1880 Milan congress profoundly affected the future of generations of D/deaf people from 1880 onwards, and resulted in the banning of sign language from educational programmes across the world.

Now over 130 years later ICED have acknowledged the detrimental effects of that Congress and have rejected all the resolutions that were made. In addition they have expressed their sincere regret at the outcome of that congress, and have called upon all the Nations of the World to ensure that languages and communication are equally respected in their education programmes.

The audience in Vancouver, both deaf and hearing, spontaneously responded with an outpouring of emotion and a standing ovation. "History has been made today and the words of the Vancouver Statement can replace the hurt caused by the Milan decision," said Joe McLaughlin, sub-committee chair, in his closing remarks.

So far over 700 people have signed a book supporting the statement "A New Era: Deaf Participation and Collaboration".

The Statement:
• Rejected all resolutions passed at the Milan Congress that denied the inclusion of sign language in educational programs for Deaf students
• Acknowledged with regret the detrimental effects of the Milan Congress, and
• Called upon all Nations to ensure that educational programs for the Deaf accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication.

The book has been presented to the President of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Markku Jokinen. A petition, which was started following the announcement, has already collected many signatures, and it is expected that many more will follow.

Markku, on behalf of the WFD, will take the book of signatures to the WFD congress in Durban, South Africa in 2011 with the intention of obtaining more signatures. It is planned that the book of signatures will then be presented at the next ICED congress in Greece in 2015.

Terry Riley, Chair of the BDA, said: "The BDA welcomes this news and supports this Statement, whilst realising that there is still a long way to go to equality for all Deaf Sign Language Users."

For more information please read the press release by the ICED regarding the 1880 Milan Congress or view the Statement of Principle at www.iced2010.com  

Also don't miss the September issue of British Deaf News, which will have more on this important story. If you don't already subscribe to BDN, click here for more details and receive a FREE gift for subscribing too.

Sources: Katie Rodgers, NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Manchester (attendee)
http://www.iced2010.com/ ICED official website