SICARD, ROCH-AMBROISE CUCURRON, ABB

born 1742, Fousseret, near Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Fr. died Sept. 20, 1822, Paris French educator who was a pioneer in the teaching of deaf-mutes. From 1786 to 1789, Sicard, an abb, was principal of a Bordeaux school for deaf-mutes. He then succeeded Abb de l'Epe in Paris. Although he long supported teaching deaf-mutes through sign language, Sicard turned to the oral method toward the end of his long career. His work influenced Thomas H. Gallaudet and the teaching of the deaf in America. A member of the Institut de France (1795), Sicard wrote two important books: Mmoire sur l'art d'instruction les sourds-muets de naissance (1789; Memoir on the Art of Teaching Deaf-Mutes from Birth) and Thorie des signers pour l'instruction des sourds-muets (180814; Theory of Signs for the Instruction of Deaf-Mutes).