Deaf Like Me is a memoir written by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley about the experience of raising their daughter, Lynn, who was born deaf. The book was first published in 1979 and has since become a classic in the field of deaf education and a valuable resource for parents of deaf children.
In the book, the authors detail the challenges and triumphs of raising Lynn, who was diagnosed with congenital deafness at just a few weeks old. They describe the initial shock and grief they felt upon learning of Lynn's deafness, and the difficult decision they faced about how to educate her. At the time, there were few resources available for deaf children, and the Spradleys were faced with the choice of sending Lynn to a residential school for the deaf or trying to raise her at home and teach her to communicate through speech and lipreading.
Ultimately, the Spradleys chose to raise Lynn at home and to teach her to communicate through speech and lipreading. This decision was not without its challenges, as the Spradleys had to overcome societal attitudes about deafness and the lack of resources available for deaf children. They also had to navigate the complex world of deaf education, which was dominated by a single method known as the "oral approach." This method focused on teaching deaf children to communicate through speech and lipreading, and discouraged the use of sign language.
Despite these challenges, the Spradleys were determined to give Lynn the best possible education and to help her reach her full potential. They worked tirelessly to find resources and support for Lynn, and they were eventually able to enroll her in a school that used a more holistic approach to deaf education that included both speech and sign language.
Through their journey with Lynn, the Spradleys learned valuable lessons about the importance of advocating for deaf children and the need for more diverse and inclusive approaches to deaf education. They also learned about the resilience and strength of the deaf community and the beauty of deaf culture.
Deaf Like Me is a powerful and inspiring book that offers insight into the experience of raising a deaf child and the challenges and triumphs of deaf education. It is a must-read for anyone interested in deaf culture and the unique experience of deaf individuals.
Destination Sky!: Deaf Like Me
Whose fault is it? After finding this out, Louise discovers that, she is pregnant with their second child. She was completely isolated from everything and everyone because she had no way to communicate. Acceptance can be a hard thing to achieve. Therefore, with Deaf people, they also have their own culture, which is Deaf Culture. In this way, no matter what the location,….
Deaf like me book webapi.bu.edu
About three-quarters of the way through the book, Lynn's parents start getting intimations that there may be another way. Retrieved 6 April 2018. During 1964 a lot of important things were happening in deaf culture. I can't even imagine how hard it must of been for them back in the 60's to struggle with the controversy of Oralism vs Manual Language ASL I found myself wanting to jump through the book and shake them and snap my fingers and tell them to wake up that they need to tea Wow. Thomas and Louise had to sometimes remind themselves that Lynn could not hear like other children, so they had to go about things differently. The 3 main characters in the story are, Louise the Mother, Thomas the Father, Bruce the Brother, and Lynn which is the daughter who is deaf.
Deaf Like Me Lit Review Chapter 1
Our writers can write a paper like this for you! Spradley describes his family's experience as they adjust to daughter Lynn's deafness, his introduction to the deaf community, and the failure of the oral-only approach they tried with their daughter. This is no Helen Keller story, but it's still pretty shocking. This book goes inside Thomas Spradley's mind and shows true emotions that parents struggle with when having a deaf child whom they can't communicate with. This book started off in early November, 1964. Spradley and James P. The love, hope, and anxieties of all hearing parents of deaf children are expressed here with power and simplicity.
Deaf Like Me essay
Medical specialists suggest treatment, such as implants or speech therapy, so that deaf people can get along in a hearing world easily. Wisdom of the time instructed parents to not let their child "act deaf" lest she grow up to become a member of the "deaf ghetto" but instead to immerse her in lip-reading and speech. Think about this - remember back when you first tried to learn a foreign language. When Lynn was a baby, it seemed like she was getting all the attention and he was left out. Gradually, her parents stop living in fear. The culturally and socially acceptable method of dealing with this so-called disability was the oral method which involves teaching deaf children to speak through hours of careful instruction and practice of lip reading, controlling air flow, making sounds from the diaphragm, etc.
Deaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley
Their daughter, Lynn, is born in the 1960's at a time when deafness was not widely understood. Although the answer now seems so obvious, the book vividly details what conditons were like for deaf families in the 1960's and how children were pushed towards an oral only environment, and discouraged from signing and "gestures". In class, we discussed not only the importance of being able to provide the information to students in sign language but also focusing on teaching students the information instead of teaching them English. Only the lowest noises register, even with the use of a hearing aid. In deaf culture, people frequently talk about the two main perspectives of deafness. There were many things from this book that I really liked.
Deaf Like Me by Thomas S. Spradley
There were a lot of things that I learned about the deaf community from this book and would consider reading it again. This reading contains two authors, both having an important message to convey to the reader. It is hard to accept the fact that the little person is deprived of the opportunity to take such a rich and diverse world of countless sounds for a whole life. The culturally and socially acceptable method of dealing with this so-called disability was the oral method which involves teaching deaf children to speak through hours of careful instruction and practice of lip reading, controlling air flow, making sounds from the diaphragm, etc. The student, however, can feel singled out or alone, or not be provided with a certified interpreter, damaging the education. I'm not at all up to date on the current state of oralism vs sign language, but I certainly hope that society as a whole has progressed enough that both are able to be used in any deaf education setting.
