The process of reform of the education system of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century was central for the establishment of new institutes for the less advantaged members of the society. Among these, special schools for D/deaf students stand out, not least because all the communities that were part of the Empire could be enrolled in these institutes. Allowing traditional school subjects to be taught to D/deaf people, the establishment of these schools represents a turning point in the history of the Ottoman education system. Through an analysis of the legal and historical framework that led to their institution, the aim of this article is to contextualise the schools for the D/deaf within the education policies of the Ottoman Empire from the second half of the nineteenth to the first decade of the twentieth century. Moreover, through an examination of their academic programmes, this article proposes to investigate the role of these institutions and their educational curricula in the attempt to make D/deaf people an active part of the Ottoman civil society.