Who invented that special type of phone for Deaf people and exactly how does it work?
Robert Weitbrecht, a Deaf scientist, invented the TTY. When a Deaf orthodontist from Pasadena sent him a teletype machine and asked him to modify it for Deaf people, Weitbrecht developed an “acoustic coupler” and the TTY was born. In the beginning, the acoustic coupler was a simple transmitter, housed in a plywood box, that converted electrical signals into audible tones capable of being sent over telephone lines. Today TTYs are still used and come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles. More and more Deaf people are using email, internet communication, 2-way pagers, and videophones. These devices come to us on a path paved by Dr. Weitbrecht and his revolutionary invention which was patented in 1965. He died in 1983.
