Quick Facts
- Born:
- 1520?
- Died:
- 1584
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Ponce de LeĆ³n, Pedro
Pedro Ponce de LeĆ³n, statue in Madrid.
Pedro Ponce de LeĆ³n
Spanish Benedictine monk
Pedro Ponce de LeĆ³n (born 1520?ādied 1584) was a Spanish Benedictine monk believed to have been the first person to develop a method for teaching the deaf.
Ponce achieved his first success with Gaspard Burgos, a deaf man who, because of his difficulty with oral communication, had been denied membership in the Benedictine order. Under Ponceās tutelage, Burgos learned to speak so that he could make his confession. Burgos later wrote a number of books. Ponce taught several other deaf persons to speak and write, although details of his methods either were never recorded or have been lost. He apparently traced letters and indicated pronunciation with lip movements to introduce and develop speech among his students.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking āSign Upā, you consent to the Britannica
Privacy Policy
and
Terms of Use.