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Community Corner

Book Marks a Surprising Discussion on Deaf Issues

Thoughts on Wednesday's book club at the Glen Ellyn Public Library.

Wednesday I met with the library’s book discussion group to talk about "Train Go Sorry", by Leah Hager Cohen. I chose this book because the group likes books of substance, books that open up a world they haven’t been invited into before. “Train go sorry” is an expression the deaf use, meaning “You missed the boat,” a connection has not been made. 

The author is the granddaughter of deaf immigrants and the daughter of hearing parents. At the time of the book’s publication,  Cohen’s father Oscar was superintendent at the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York City. Leah spent her first eight years living at the school with her family, nursing an intense desire to connect to the happy students bustling around her, liking the way they lingered at the end of the school day laughing boisterously as they signed to each other. They didn’t want to leave. Why?

Now having read it, I feel embarrassed by my ignorant assumptions about deafness. I thought deafness was a disability, something to be overcome, as least something to make the best of.  The deaf themselves view deafness as a culture with its own language, schools, and values. For many years doctors and other professionals in the hearing world didn’t recognize American Sign Language (ASL) as a legitimate language; instead, they tried to make deaf people learn their language through lip-reading and vocalizing in order to fit them into the “normal” world.  When I heard about the controversy involving using ASL or vocalizing, I thought:  What’s the problem: Do both!  I didn’t realize that many deaf people consider ASL, not English and not vocalization, their native language, just as vital to them as to anyone. Cohen refers to a surprising survey conducted among the deaf, asking that if they could choose to be hearing, would they? The majority said no.

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According to Cohen, cochlear implants are another way to marginalize deaf culture. Proponents want to equip young children with implants and, yes, they are much more effective when applied early in life. Detractors insist that young children should be given a chance to experience the deaf world and decide for themselves. To advocates of deaf culture, the protest against cochlear implants is tantamount to a civil rights issue. Does our society condone interference with other minority cultures: those of African-Americans, Jews,  women?

When the discussion ended I realized  I wrong! I assumed the group members would want to pick up the deaf culture banner and march with me.  Au contraire.  Some felt the writing was turgid and preachy. Others rejected the concept of deafness as a culture: they saw it as a disability, plain and simple. On two issues we could agree: Deafness is a heartbreaking condition, unique in the way it isolates a person--- even from the family.  And, alongside the hearing populace,  there are many hearing-impaired people who take great comfort and strength from their community and culture. "Train Go Sorry" was an eye-opener.

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Next book discussion happens May 13: "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet", by David Mitchell, by most accounts, one of the best books of 2010.

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