In 1825, he published an important book, Mimographie, which utilized a method of writing signs.

Born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Bébian was sent to France by his father to obtain a high school education under the auspices of his godfather, the Abbé Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard, who was the successor of the Abbé de l'Épée as the director of the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets de Paris.

He completed high school at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, where he was regarded as a brilliant student.

Following the advice of Abbé Sicard, Bébian began working with three Deaf teachers—Jean Massieu, Ferdinand Berthier, and Laurent Clerc—at the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets de Paris.

In 1817, he published the book Essai sur les sourds-muets et sur le langage naturel, which dealt with the educational philosophy and methods of the school, as well as the nature of French Sign Language.