Deaf Like Me
by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, epilogue by Lynn SpradleyIn 1965, Louise Spradley got a funny rash. She worried that she might have gotten German measles or rubella. She was especially worried because she was pregnant. The Spradleys did not want a disabled child. When the baby was born, the doctors were happy to tell the Spradleys that there was nothing wrong with their daughter. But as baby Lynn got older, the Spradleys began to worry again. Although Lynn sometimes seemed to respond to sound, at other times she was totally oblivious to annoyingly loud noises. At 16 months, Lynn's hearing tested at a loss of 100 decibels for most pitches, and for more than 80 decibels for every pitch. The Spradleys began to learn how to teach their daughter speech. They were told not to gesture to Lynn, to face her when they spoke to her, and to speak a lot. The Spradleys work with Lynn to teach her to communicate their way. They try to augment what little hearing Lynn has. The Spradleys labor on, clinging to the hope than Lynn
will learn to speak. When the Spradleys move to Sacramento, they take into consideration the schools and are happy to be moving to one that is oralist. But at their first meeting there, there is a discussion on total communication. The Spradleys find that less than 10% of deaf people can speak intelligibly, and that lip readers have to fill in a lot- they never are certain about every single word. After watching deaf children at school and realizing how much they rely on gestures, and seeing the easy communication between signing children and their parents, the Spradleys learn sign language. Lynn flourishes.
This story is told as the narrative of Thomas Spradley, Lynn's father. His journey through the world of the deaf and disabled is one that I wish more people would go through. Through this book, perhaps others have. Thomas Spradley intelligently grows from his experiences. I dislike only two things about this book- that I want to know whether Lynn's speech improved after learning sign language, and that the Spradleys wanted to abort their daughter due to the risk of her being disabled.
Food For Thought: In her epilogue, Lynn tells us about what happened after she learned to sign. In 5th grade, Lynn decided that she wanted to attend a residential school for the deaf, so that there would be more people that she could communicate with. How much is mainstreaming worth?
Edifying reading
