Gallaudet University, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; with federal support. It was founded (1856) as the Kendall School, a training school for deaf and blind students, by Edward Miner Gallaudet (see under Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins). Later primarily for the hearing-impaired, the school changed its name to Gallaudet College in 1954 and achieved university status in 1986. Special programs include instruction in the use of telecommunications in the classroom and an associate degree in interpreting for the deaf. Gallaudet's Kendall Demonstration Elementary School provides a tuition-free education, as well as diagnostic, medical, and social services for deaf children. There is also a secondary school for the deaf and a division of public services, which offers continuing education for the deaf, curriculum development, sign language programs, and training in physical disablities for professionals.
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