At this Congress, a declaration was made that oral method was superior to that of sign. Resolutions were passed banning sign language and voted in favour of Oral method. The only countries opposed to the ban were the United States (represented by Edward Miner Gallaudet, the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, Issac Peet, James Denison and Charles Stoddard) and Britain. The sign supporters tried to get their voices heard, but failed, to get their voices heard.

The Congress passed the following two topmost resolutions:

The other six resolutions dealt with:

• the education of poor deaf students.
• how to instruct deaf students orally.
• the need for instructional books for deaf oral teachers.
• the long–term benefits of oral instruction.
• the optimal ages for oral education and length of instruction.
• phasing out of sign language user students.

It was an unavoidable and pre-planned conclusion. The outcome was basically "fixed" because the Congress was planned and organised by a committee set up by the Pereire Society in France - which does not have a status in the government-sanctioned education - that was against sign language. This committee selected the attending “representatives” - more than half were known oralist supporters from France and Italy.

Although other topics were supposed to be discussed, the Congress mainly focused on the methods of education, and representatives talked about the method of instruction used in their schools - either speech or combined system (speech and sign).

There have been reports and historical accounts of the way the Congress was run and those who had given talks supporting the sign and the combined system were ridiculed and jeered off the platform while those who gave speeches supporting the Oral method were cheered and praised.

Here are some such examples of the biased Oralist speeches:

“Remember that living speech is the privilege of man, the sole and certain vehicle of thought, the gift of God, of which it has been truly said: ‘Speech is the expression of the soul / As the soul is the expression of living thought”
Part of Opening Address from Augusto Zucchi, President of the Congress.

“When you go home, tell what you have seen here: The deaf–mutes of Italy speak! ... The minister of Christ must open the mouths of the deaf–mutes ... I will add, on behalf of Catholic priests, that mutes must speak in order to enable their priests to fully understand their confessions. Vote for speech; always speech.”
Serafino Balestra, one of the key speakers.

“Our daughter, Edith, had been educated successfully by the oral method over a period of seven years. Compare this to those “mimic” deaf schools in America which took much longer to achieve acceptable results.”
Mrs. St. John Ackers, wife of English MP Benjamin.

“The deaf children who were taught to speak lived healthier lives than those of signing deaf children. The passage of air through the mouth which accompanies speech reduces the risk of epilepsy, odour from the ears and chilblains"
Dr. E. Symes–Thompson, London.

They held public demonstrations at two of the deaf schools in Milan where they showed a small number of “successful” orally educated deaf schoolchildren to the delegates. The schoolchildren were paraded up and asked questions orally mainly by the Italian delegates and they successfully responded orally much to the delight of most of the observing delegates.

When the Congress concluded on September 11th after it had passed the last two topmost resolutions, there was a rousing encore citing the Congress as “The National Convention of Deaf–Mutes” and...

The Milan Treaty of 1880.