Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Headquarters in Washington, DC
Founded	1890
Founder	Alexander Graham Bell
Focus	Speech
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C., United States
Area served	United States
Method	Resources and advocacy
Key people	Susan Lenihan, Ph.D., Chair Emilio Alonso-Mendoza, CEO
Employees	8
Website	www.agbell.org

The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, also known as AG Bell, is an organization that aims to promote listening and spoken language among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with chapters located throughout the United States and a network of international affiliates.

History

The Association was originally created as the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (AAPTSD). In 1908 it merged with Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Bureau (founded in 1887 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf"), and was renamed as the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf in 1956 at the suggestion of Mrs. Frances Toms, the mother of a deaf son who was able to achieve high academic standings in mainstream schools with the organization's help. In 1999 the Association was finally renamed to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Further reading

• A.A.P.T.S.D. The Association Review: 1906, Philadelphia, Penn.: American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. Retrieved from the Internet Archive, June 7, 2012. Note: this review has been inadvertently listed on the Internet Archive as The Association Review: 1899, although some metadata correctly identifies it as from the year 1906.