Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind
| Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Address | |
|
205 South St E Talladega, Alabama United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1858 |
| President | Dr. John Mascia |
| Grades | Pre-K-12 |
| School color(s) | Red and White |
| Mascot | Indian |
| Website | http://www.aidb.org |
The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is a school for people with blindness and/or deafness operated by the U. S. State of Alabama in the city of Talladega. The current institution includes the Alabama School for the Deaf, the Alabama School for the Blind, and the Helen Keller School, named for Alabamian Helen Keller, which serves children who are both deaf and blind. The E. H. Gentry Technical Facility provides vocational training for older students, and the institution offers employment to graduates through its Alabama Industries for the Blind workshops in Talladega and Birmingham. The AIDB has regional centers in Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Mobile, Dothan, Auburn, and Tuscumbia. The AIDB currently serves more than 12,500 residents from all 67 counties of the state.
The institution was formed at the suggestion of Joseph Henry Johnson, a former instructor at the Georgia Asylum for the Deaf in Cave Spring. He left that school in 1858 and corresponded with Alabama Governor Andrew B. Moore and State Superintendent of Education William Perry about opening a similar facility in the neighboring state. He purchased property in Talladega and opened the Alabama School for the Deaf on October 4 of that same year. The state purchased the property from him in 1860, but kept him on as president.
In April 1867 Johnson's brother-in-law, Reuben Rogers Asbury, who had suffered an eye injury during the American Civil War, lobbied the state's Reconstruction legislature for funds to add a school for the blind, with himself as teacher. The funding was approved in 1870, and the combined institutions were renamed the Alabama Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. The school then served about 70 students. As it grew, it was split again into separate schools in 1887. Josiah Graves took over the Alabama Academy for the Blind and Johnson stayed on as head of the School for the Deaf. In 1892, Alabama founded the Alabama School for Negro Deaf-Mutes (later the Alabama School for the Negro Deaf and Blind) nearby, with Graves serving as principal.
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