Belonging; An Autoethnography of a Life in Sign Language

This book weaves intensely personal and evocative stories into a layered autoethnographic text about the author’s experience of childhood deafness, sign language and education. Interwoven with the performative narrative are powerful stories of stigma, trauma, friendships, relationships, love, isolation and displacement. Using interpretative and reflective analysis, the author explores the storied experience of self and belonging in family and school contexts, providing both personal and theoretical perspectives on language and culture. He traces the pathways he has taken in pursuit of a true sense of belonging in society, community and place.

This is an important contribution to the study of sign language, deaf education, disability and deaf health and well-being. It will be of interest to professionals and practitioners working with deaf children and parents and to students and researchers within social policy, social medicine, psychology, sociology, early childhood studies and special education.

Noel O’Connell is a postdoctoral fellow at the Research and Graduate School, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He has worked as a lecturer in Irish Sign Language and deaf education and as a researcher in the area of translation and identity. He has published widely on autoethnography, deaf education and sign language.