I was working on a piece for my writing group and looking through photos and saw a boy in my confirmation class who was deaf. I googled him and found out despite his deficit, he had an amazing career, beginning with taking the University of Texas to the Supreme Court for refusing to provide him with language assistance. And then I remembered a book I read years ago (1988) that really captured the hearing person in a deaf family (A LOSS FOR WORDS). Now that I have a moderate hearing loss, this subject interests me. The recent series CODE OF SILENCE on Britbox did a great job with this and of course, CODA, which won an Oscar.
From
the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker acted as the ears and voice
for her parents, who had lost their hearing at a young age. As soon as
she was old enough to speak, her childhood ended, and she immediately
assumed the responsibility of interpreter—translating doctors’
appointments and managing her parents’ business transactions. Their
family life was warm and loving, but outside the home, they faced a
world that misunderstood and often rejected them.
In
this deeply moving memoir, Walker offers us a glimpse of a different
world, bringing with it a broader reflection on how parents grow
alongside their children and how children learn to navigate the world
through the eyes of their parents.
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