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From https://mic.com/articles/185597/deaf-children-language-deprivation-alexander-graham-bell#.T5SsZyWnL

The strange reason deaf children aren’t taught sign language
by Kelly Kasulis
October 27, 2017

Imagine living without a first language. That’s the case for many deaf children in the United States who suffer from “language deprivation,” a condition that could affect them for life.

It’s when kids miss the critical period — which begins to taper off around age 5 — to develop the mental scaffolding that helps the brain understand language. If deaf children are not taught how to sign during this time, they may never learn any language to fluency.

…In the fall of 1880, representatives from European and American schools for the deaf gathered in Milan. There, a 33-year-old Alexander Graham Bell — yes, the guy who is credited with inventing the telephone — advocated for abandoning sign language in schools. Bell’s wife and mother were both deaf, and he believed that deaf people needed to learn how to speak.

By the end of the conference, the hot new thing was to ditch sign language in classrooms and bring oral-based education back to delegates’ home countries. Not a single deaf person was involved in making the new resolutions.

Read the full article at https://mic.com/articles/185597/deaf-children-language-deprivation-alexander-graham-bell#.T5SsZyWnL