Famed neurologist and author Oliver Sacks once again provides great insight into a world most people people with the ability to hear probably take for granted. A lot of ground is covered once again by the great Dr. Sacks as he puts the existence of those who are deaf at the forefront of this book, a book that is sometimes a narrative, sometimes an analysis, and sometimes social commentary.Largely, there are quite a few thought-provoking stories and instances in this book that will likely stay with the reader long after finishing it. Consider the examples of deaf children, whose well-intentioned parents enroll them into a sign language program, but then the child has no resources to really use what they are learning, as they are learning it, once school is done for the day, because the parents and other family members are not necessarily also learning sign language themselves. Dr. Sacks makes strong points about the necessity of learning sign language - much as we must all learn _some_ language - by a certain age, otherwise, our brains simply do not absorb the same level of thinking and processing in later life. As such, you can imagine the struggles of someone afflicted by non-congenital hearing loss might endure and the obstacles that, too, presents.Dr. Sacks discusses medical traits and aspects of deafness to some degree, and one area that stood out to me was technological advancements in attempting to either provide or restore hearing through the use of cochlear implants. To my surrpise, cochlear implants have really only progressed on any level since the mid-20th century! This seems incredible on many levels. The reliance on early days of lip reading and basic, non-uniform sign language appears to have been profound before then.The final chapters of this book encapsulate some of the frustrations of the deaf in a hearing world, in the form of the Gallaudet University protests known better as the "Deaf President Now" movement. Gallaudet students demanded that a deaf person be appointed as president of the university after only being led by hearing presidents. The university is one of the only deaf higher educational institutions in the world and the students were strongly opinionated that their concerns could be better addressed by someone who fully understood their existence. In many ways, this battle seems representative of that allegory of what it must often be like to be hearing impaired in a world that is anything but. I wasn't aware of the DPN story before reading this and I felt moved by the plight of the students.Good work by Dr. Sacks, as usual, although I found his other books to be more to my preference. But, as usual, Dr. Sacks exposed me to new concepts through his work, and I am grateful for that experience with "Seeing Voices".
A small book that packs a punch. The author is a neurologist and so much of his book (specifically the chapter Thinking in Sign)covers how language is developed from an infant on in someone hearing and then how language is acquired by someone deaf. This chapter is only 60 pages long, but it took me over a week before I could move on. I reread several pages and a mere sentence held so much meaning and could reveal so much to me that I actually found myself in a study mode craving to learn more. The book left me with a feeling of knowing so little and wanting to know more. Anyone can benefit from reading a book like this, but it is special to me because I have a deaf family member. Before reading this book, I had a deep desire to learn ASL because my experience has been that although other family members sign, and can interpret for me, when we predominantly talk we are causing an isolation that leaves me feeling horrible. My desire is to be bilingual and Signing be second nature to me. I also found nuggets of wisdom in this book pertaining to deaf schooling. A theory revealed is that there is a critical time in our lives (between 18 months and 13 years)that our minds are ripe for developing language and that it diminishes after that. There is also some evidence that supports residential schools being crucial to the deaf in their growth. Our educational system may focus more on mainstreaming, but that really doesn't seem logical to me (for pre-lingual deaf children) given that mainstream schools have no consistent focus on bilingual Signing. We have an innate ability to acquire language, but we don't do it on our own. It is only something that occurs with someone else. So what better argument for being with those that Sign. Prior to this book, I thought of Signing to be pantomime and now I understand the depth of it and understand it to be a true language. I have never used the word lexicon and I had to look it up in order to understand some of the concepts in this book. This book also took a linguistic approach to dissect ASL and it was fascinating.
What do You think about Seeing Voices (2000)?
When I was a child my cousin asked me if I would rather be blind or deaf. I didn't hesitate, I would much rather be deaf, I thought - a world of perpetual darkness was to be avoided at all costs.To be honest, I never really thought about this question again until reading this book. I had no idea what costs deafness can bring with it.Sacks go through many of these costs and explains, in remarkably simple language, some of the 'age dependent' structures that form our minds - how certain rules of language need to be learnt at certain ages - and if they have not been they mostly will not be, ever. The need for the deaf to learn sign earlier rather than later could not be explained in a better way.He also explains Vygotsky's Zones of Proximal Development in a remarkably clear way.This is a wonderful book and one that deals with quite difficult topics in a way that is clear and easy to read.
—Trevor
"I actually think the deafness makes you see clearer. If you can't hear, you somehow see" - David Hockney The aforementioned quote encapsulates the theme and tenor of this magnificent book by the brilliant Dr.Oliver Sacks. Deafness in general and pre-lingual or congenital deafness is particular can have a devastating impact on the physical, mental and social psyche of the unfortunate individual. But the most jarring blow is the one dealt with by an unsympathetic and unaware society. The ostracism, isolation and neglect heaped upon a deaf person is more than adequate to inflict a trauma having the capability to scar and even wreck a pitiful life.However, due to the stellar and noble efforts of mercurial geniuses such as William Stockoe (the pioneer of the American Sign Language ("ASL"), Laurent Clerc, a French teacher famously titled "The Apostle Of the Deaf", giant strides have been and are being taken across the spectrum of the globe to bring more than just a glimmer of hope to the hearing impaired.A classic case being - The Gallaudet University in USA - the only University in the world to offer the deaf a liberal arts curriculum. In this touching work, Dr.Sacks traces the arduous path from despondency staring a deaf person in the face to delights awaiting in the form of an aspiring future and a beautiful and fulfilling lifespan. An interesting aspect revealed by Dr.Sachs (relying on the treasure trove of a plethora of research findings) is the plasticity of the nervous system to 'rearrange' the auditory synapses to facilitate visual perception to compensate for auditory loss in a person bereft of hearing.The real life examples in the book move, motivate and mellow down preconceptions and prejudicial notions. Slights such as "tone-deaf"; "mute"; "dumber' etc would be relegated to the trash can once this book is done with. But the impact is sure to linger long after the covers have come down. So it should be!
—Venky
“We are remarkably ignorant about deafness…Ignorant and indifferent.” I would definitely agree that I was relatively ignorant about deafness, probably because I didn’t know any deaf people until some months ago. Making the acquaintance of a young deaf man made me really curious about deaf people in general. This book taught me so much, it was truly enlightening.I think it should be read by everyone. Some of the stories about the deaf population's struggle for acceptance were very powerful and poignant, and I was embarrassed that I had been so unaware of their struggles. A great quote:“And to be defective in language, for a human being, is one of the most desperate of calamities, for it is only through language that we enter fully into our human estate and culture, communicate freely with our fellows, acquire and share information. If we cannot do this, we will be bizarrely disabled and cut off- whatever our desires or endeavours, or native capacities.”
—Rowena
