Silent Ears, Silent Heart: A deaf man's journey through two worlds - Softcover

LaCrosse, Blair; LaCrosse, Michelle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 097401110X ISBN 13: 9780974011103

Publisher: Deaf Understanding, 2003

Synopsis

According to the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 34 million Americans have a significant hearing loss; of these almost six million are profoundly deaf. Imagine living in a world where everyone around you speaks a different language, and you can't master it . . . The culture of those around you is different from your own, but you can't be a part of it . . . No matter how much you struggle to fit in, you never will. And what if this is your lot in life not by choice but by chance. How would you feel? This is the very same world into which millions of deaf persons are born, including Christopher Cline. Christopher's journey through life highlights the challenges that a deaf individual growing up in a hearing world faces on a daily basis, including the most difficult, yet most important, challenge of all gaining the acceptance and approval of one's hearing parents. Silent Ears, Silent Heart gives the reader a glimpse into the language, culture, and life of a deaf person, but it does more than that. The reader's heart becomes intertwined with Christopher's so that he or she is inspired to be empathetic toward the plight of deaf individuals.

About this title

About the Author:

Blair is a deaf person born into a hearing family. He was born just before the 1964-1965 rubella (also known as German Measles) epidemic. The intrauterine exposure to this virus caused his deafness, which in turn lead him on his own journey through two worlds one of the deaf and the other of the hearing. During his life, Blair has experienced firsthand the challenges of trying to communicate, understand, and succeed in a hearing world. Michelle, at the age of 12 became acquainted with deaf persons. Through the years she has not only learned the language of the Deaf, but has also been able to accept the culture of the Deaf as her own. Having been a sign language interpreter for more than twenty years, Michelle has become aware of the hardships that the Deaf face in medical, legal, and financial settings. Through their personal experiences, as well as the experiences of the many deaf individuals who have touched their lives, Silent Ears, Silent Heart was conceived, drew nourishment, and incubated, until it finally broke free, demanding to be presented.

Review:

Silent Ears, Silent Heart brings tears to my eyes and with them a great sense of relief. Upon reading it, I am overwhelmed with many fond memories especially the ones that I never realized would have such a powerful impact on my life. There are many instances throughout the book that accurately typify the experiences of a successful deaf individual in a world of ignorance and marginalization. Throughout the book, there is an undeniable correlation between the socio-psychological development of deaf children and the degree of parental support and involvement. The importance of collectiveness in decision-making, consistency in providing loving support, and compliance for the best of the deaf child is manifested, vividly demonstrated and observed in the relationship of the deaf son and his father. A parent s lack of awareness of a profoundly deaf child s needs results in his or her life being not only more difficult than his or her hearing contemporaries, but simply more difficult than necessary and often accompanied by dejection. For the deaf, sign language communication comes to the rescue. As an extremely effective communication method, American Sign Language (ASL) maintains the same unique properties of language as any spoken language, including American English. It is a visual-gestural language that accurately exchanges abstract concepts and has been passed on from one contemporary to the next. ASL is able to convey "sounds," or phonemes, discretely in the form of handshape, movement, location, and orientation of the wrist, not to mention some non-manual facial expressions. In this book, ASL has helped the deaf son to lead a successful life in both the hearing and Deaf worlds. --Michael A Weingart, Sign Language Instructor - Monroe Community College, Rochester, New York

About this edition

• Publisher: Deaf Understanding
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 097401110X
• ISBN 13: 9780974011103
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288