Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture

by Carol A. Padden, Tom L. Humphries

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Written by authors who are themselves Deaf, this unique book illuminates the life and culture of Deaf people from the inside, through their everyday talk, their shared myths, their art and performances, and the lessons they teach one another. Carol Padden and Tom Humphries employ the capitalized "Deaf" to refer to deaf people who share a natural language--American Sign Language (ASL--and a complex culture, historically created and actively transmitted across generations. Signed languages show more have traditionally been considered to be simply sets of gestures rather than natural languages. This mistaken belief, fostered by hearing people's cultural views, has had tragic consequences for the education of deaf children; generations of children have attended schools in which they were forbidden to use a signed language. For Deaf people, as Padden and Humphries make clear, their signed language is life-giving, and is at the center of a rich cultural heritage. The tension between Deaf people's views of themselves and the way the hearing world views them finds its way into their stories, which include tales about their origins and the characteristics they consider necessary for their existence and survival. Deaf in America includes folktales, accounts of old home movies, jokes, reminiscences, and translations of signed poems and modern signed performances. The authors introduce new material that has never before been published and also offer translations that capture as closely as possible the richness of the original material in ASL. Deaf in America will be of great interest to those interested in culture and language as well as to Deaf people and those who work with deaf children and Deaf people. show less

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Member Reviews

3 reviews
Excellent and brief introduction to Deaf culture. It should be required reading for ASL students, students of Deaf education, interpreting students, parents of Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, as well as (and perhaps most importantly) Deaf and hard-of-hearing people themselves. It is simply written, so for those whom English is not a first or primary language--as is often the case with Deaf people who do not have a first-language foundation--it is easy to understand.
This book is a good introduction to different issues with growing up Deaf. It goes deeper into the deaf experience than a lot of the books I've read. This book has lots of anecdotes which makes it a more personal read.
A perspective on Deaf people and their culture looking at things with Deaf culture as the norm rather than hearing culture as the norm. The only drawback to this book is that I've read many books like this, and most of them give more detail, more history, and are somewhat better-written.

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1988

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
362.4Society, government, & cultureSocial problems and social servicesSocial WelfarePeople with disabilites
LCC
HV2545 .P33Social sciencesSocial pathology. Social and public welfare. CriminologySocial pathology. Social and public welfare.Protection, assistance and reliefSpecial classesPeople with disabilities
BISAC

Statistics

Members
234
Popularity
139,283
Reviews
3
Rating
(3.78)
Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
3
ASINs
1