The deaf community has played a significant role in Belleville for more than 150 years since the establishment of what is now the Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf here in 1870.

When the school was threatened with closure a number of years ago, a residual population of former students and staff, drew strong public support and the school remains open, albeit on a scaled down format.

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Now, the deaf community is excited about a significant coming event: a commemoration of the creation of the American Sign Language system. This has become the standard deaf communication system used across North America and abroad and the one used by the Belleville school. The ability for deaf people to communicate with others with this system has played a significant role in eliminatin

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