The first ever political movement in Deaf history happened in 1880 in Milan, Italy and was called the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf, although it was actually the very first International Congress on Education of the Deaf. This first international conference consisted of Deaf educators and is commonly known as "The Milan Conference". The conference held deliberations from September 6, 1880, to September 11, 1880, and declared that oral education was superior to manual education and decided to ban the use of sign language in school.

There was not one single Deaf educator invited to the conference. Following the conference, schools in Europe and the United States switched to using speech therapy without sign language as a method of education for the Deaf.

The National Association for the Deaf (NAD) was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880 as an organization run by Deaf peopl to advocate for deaf rights, its first president being Robert P. McGregor of Ohio. It includes satelite associations from all 50 states and is the US member of the World Federation of the Deaf, which has over 120 national associations of Deaf people as members.

NAD is a vigorous advocate for sign language and the rights of Deaf people. The NAD helped conduct the first census of the Deaf population. It supports a legal defense fund, sponsors annual camps, and helps fight for the rights of the Deaf community.