Julia Brace
Julia Brace was the first deaf and blind person in America to go to school.
Her main communication method was using finger spelling. She was the 146th person to be enrolled at ASD and she was at ASD for 35 years (1825 - 1860). Everyone loved her.
She worked doing laundry and identified various peoples' clothing by smell.
Many visitors from all over the world traveled to Hartford to meet her. She was quite famous.
Her sharp sense of touch and smell helped her in her every day life. Here are examples of how she went about her daily life as a deaf/blind person.
- She never made a false step upon a flight of steps.
- She never made a wrong door entrance.
- Her seating position was not mistaken.
- All her clothes were very organized in drawers.
- Picked her clothes from the laundry pile.
- Mended clothes perfectly.
- Threaded her needle with aid of her tongue.
Julia Brace image from archives of the American School for the Deaf