Matthew S. Moore (1)

The illustrations (by a Deaf artist) were clever and beautiful and evocative and sometimes flat-out hilarious. (The deaf man being approached by a thief? hahaha.)

The rest, well ... Most of it I already know; and bits made me cringe (it's an insult to deaf culture if a hearie learns sign? oh, please.)
The rest made me cringe in a different way. It's a strange and embarrassing experience to come up against a culture alien to your own, and to flounder there is, um, a bit humbling.

I'll note the show more book said nothing about the biggest separation between deaf and hearing cultures I've experienced: the norm of disinterested politeness. "Hey, how're you Fine and you" as you pass by -- hearing people do this all the damn time. In my experience, that conversation usually goes like this -

"Hey, how are you?"
"Oh, good! This weekend I rafted with five good friends. Four are hearing, one Deaf. Fun! One friend named J-E-N-N-E fell out. Hit her head on rock. She had a headache but then was fine. Anyway. It was super cool. You should come next time. How was your weekend?"
"Um ... it was good, thanks!"

Cue hearie being late for the board meeting.

That makes sense ... but it requires a shift in my consciousness that I'm not always able to make (like at 7am on a Monday morning. What? again please? Sorry. Morning. Not awake I. Need coffee drink, wake.)

My apologies to the deaf community for my perpetual rudeness in the morning, and intermittent rudeness the rest of the time. It's all unintentional. Please don't be mad at me for stumbling through your beautiful language - even if I am an obnoxious hearie.

I won't ever confuse it with Braille or SPEAK LIKE THIS. I promise. show less

One of the best deaf life and culture books I've read -- it runs the gamut from incredibly basic knowledge to new-to-me cultural details. This book should be on the shelves of people who are starting to interact with the Deaf community, and it should also be thumbed through by people who are already comfortable in the community. Be warned, however: because its starting point is "you're reading this because you know absolutely nothing" (one question addresses whether Braille is the written show more form of sign language(!)), the exhortative tone may be off-putting to readers who feel defensive about their Hearing status.

At nearly 800 pages long and in question-and-answer format, it is worth the cost, but repetitive to read straight through. The authors suggest thumbing through the index and reading only the questions that jump out; it's a good suggestion, and it helps ensure the book is appropriate for all levels of incoming knowledge.

Highly recommended for parents of deaf babies, coworkers of Deaf people, and hearing students at mainstreamed schools. show less

A fine reference for beginning ASL students. It should be read by anyone taking ASL, parents of Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, coworkers of Deaf people, and Deaf and hard-of-hearing people themselves. I read this many years ago when I was first learning ASL. Although it is quite thorough, my chief complaint is its acerbic, often lecturing tone. I don't think such a tone is appropriate for a reference work. That said, it is simply written and a decent starting point.

A great introduction into the culture of the deaf community. It is in a question and answer format which is helpful. The work talks about what is polite, PC, and stereotypes.