Seeing Voices

He speaks as if all deaf people are the same and that one language is right for all. I, personally, use the language he speaks of, however, it is simply not healthy to presume all deaf people do as well. The largest thing he fails to even mention once is the fact that the large majority of deaf people became deaf after the age of 18.

That being said, if you're interested in learning nothing more than what this man thinks and his delight in learning a handful of signs and communicating with us less fortunate people (sarcasm), read away. If, on the other hand, you want to truly learn more about the culture and not only what Oliver Sacks believes, click on the back arrow at the top of your screen and continue your search. :o(


Parent who used cueing method very successfully   March 14, 2003
 23 out of 33 found this review helpful

Seeing Voices is a useful source of information on the history of sign, the Deaf community, and the development of language in children. At times, however, I found myself in a love-hate relationship with it, because for all Sacks has done, he has left much undone. The book is composed of three long essays describing, in turn: the history of deaf people, the power of sign language, and the Deaf President Now movement at Gallaudet University. The middle essay examines the beautiful, expressive language of Sign, which was described by Dr. William Strokes as a true language only in the 1960s. Sacks calls this essay "the heart of the book" -- his most personal yet comprehensive examination of the deaf world. As I read it, I began to mark passages that were unsupported by references or were in direct disagreement with my own experience and study. At first the marks were seldom, but by the end of the essay, they were frequent.
My problems with the book seemed to have a common theme: Having guided us this far and identified ASL as a language for people who are deaf, he veers off into the flawed conclusion that it is THE ONLY language for them.
For example, Sacks describes seperate encounters with two children, a five-year-old who cues and a six-year-old who signs. He uses different standards to evaluate their different methods of communication. In doing so, he is guilty of the same misperception he accuses much of the hearing world of having about people who are deaf -- he judges what the two youngsters know by the ease with which he can communicate with them. He evaluates the cueing child by the quality of her speech, but evaluates the signing child by his language.
It is curious that someone so experienced and perceptive could be so cavalier in his appraival of deaf communication.
Seeing Voices is an important book that makes much of the deaf culture visible to the general public. It argues convincingly that ASL is the language of that culture. But it is ultimately a love story. Sacks has fallen in love with sign language, and in his case, love is blind.