The award-winning book by Andrew Solomon, “Far From The Tree: Parents, Children And The Search For Identity” (November 2012), gives a very one-sided view of deafness, says US-based journalist Lisa A. Goldstein – who is deaf and verbal, with cochlear implants.
Read Goldstein’s Critical Review: Far From The Truth
Goldstein reminds us of the “anonymous deaf” people, who listen and speak (with hearing-devices) and assimilate into their local communities. This verbal group often describes itself as ‘invisible’ – and ‘not fitting’ deaf stereotypes, due to being fully included in schools, workplaces and mainstream society.
Importantly, Goldstein cites the rapidly-growing and “large group of happy deaf individuals who receive an oral education” – proof that they do exist and are thriving in mainstream life.
Her friend Kelly Gillkey, a NASA engineer who has a cochlear implant, says:
“The decision to raise a child as oral is not about power. Conversely, the parent wants to empower their child to use his or her own voice in society.”
Update: in 2016, this Community Post: We Are Not Language Deprived – was signed by Goldstein, among many others who were mainstream educated in the United States.
More Reading
* Living A Life Less Ordinary (Sunday Independent: “Living”, 29/09/2013)
* Lip-Reading Challenges In The Hearing World
* What Are The ‘Different Ways Of Being Deaf’?
* How Policy Can Lag The Real Grassroots Reality
* NTID Expects Deaf Students Who Speak – And Sign
* NY Times: Budget Cuts Polarising Deaf Education
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