What Gallaudet did was learn sign language and bring it to America to help establish the first school for the deaf.
Here's the breakdown:
* Gallaudet traveled to Europe in 1815 to learn sign language and teaching methods for the deaf.
* He met Laurent Clerc, a deaf teacher who was fluent in sign language and had extensive experience teaching deaf students in France.
* Together, they brought sign language to America and established the American Asylum for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. This school, now called Gallaudet University, became the first deaf school in the United States.
So, while Gallaudet didn't discover sign language, his work was crucial in introducing and formalizing its use in education for the deaf in America.