The deaf community in the West has endured radical changes in the past centuries. This work of history tracks the changes both in the education of and the social world of deaf people through the years. Topics include attitudes toward the deaf in Europe and America and the evolution of communication and language. Of particular interest is the way in which deafness has been increasingly humanized, rather than medicalized or pathologized, as it was in the past. Successful contributions to the deaf and non-deaf world by deaf individuals are also highlighted. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Using original sources, this unique book focuses on the Deaf community during the 19th century. Largely through schools for the deaf, deaf people began to develop a common language and a sense of community. A Place of Their Own brings the perspective of history to bear on the reality of deafness and provides fresh and important insight into the lives of deaf Americans.

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 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.

Introduction to American Deaf Culture provides a fresh perspective on what it means to be Deaf in contemporary hearing society. The book offers an overview of Deaf art, literature, history, and humor, and touches on political, social and cultural themes.

Started in 1986 as a project to simply describe the linguistic and sociolinguistic features of contact signing and to determine if this type of signing is aptly labeled a pidgin, this book blossomed in depth as the authors' data increased. The initial narrow goals of the book expanded and now project a much larger picture of language contact in the American deaf community."We were forced...to consider issues somewhat broader than those addressed by the (initial) project," writes Lucas in the preface. The result is a superbly-researched text, documenting the tireless efforts of Lucas and Valli over the last six years. Included in the book is a model of linguistic outcomes of language contact in the deaf community, the patterns of language use which emerged from the data, and the implications of the findings on deaf education, second language teaching, and interpreting.This book describes language contact in the deaf community within the larger context of studies of language contact. It reviews current issues and research on language contact. It re-examines claims that the outcome of language contact in the deaf community is a pidgin. It demonstrates what is unique about language contact in the deaf community based on analysis of videotaped data. It discusses the educational and teaching implications of findings with regard to language contact in the deaf community.

Aside from the occasional controversy over "Official English" campaigns, language remains the blind spot in the debate over multiculturalism. Considering its status as a nation of non-English speaking aborigines and of immigrants with many languages, America exhibits a curious tunnel vision about cultural and literary forms that are not in English. How then have non-English speaking Americans written about their experiences in this country? And what can we learn-about America, immigration and ethnicity-from them? Arguing that multilingualism is perhaps the most important form of diversity, Multilingual America calls attention to-and seeks to correct-the linguistic parochialism that has defined American literary study. By bringing together essays on important works by, among others, Yiddish, Chinese American, German American, Italian American, Norwegian American, and Spanish American writers, Werner Sollors here presents a fuller view of multilingualism as a historical phenomenon and as an ongoing way of life. At a time when we are just beginning to understand the profound effects of language acquisition on the development of the brain, Multilingual America forces us to broaden what in fact constitutes American literature.

Deaf People and Society incorporates multiple perspectives related to the topics of psychology, education, and sociology, including the viewpoints of deaf adults themselves. In doing so, it considers the implications of what it means to be deaf or hard of hearing and how deaf adults’ lives are impacted by decisions that professionals make, whether in the clinic, the school, or when working with family. This second edition has been thoroughly revised and offers current perspectives on the following topics: Etiologies of deafness and the identification process The role of auditory access Cognition, language, communication, and literacy Bilingual, bilingual/bimodal, and monolingual approaches to language learning Educational, legal, and placement aspects Childhood psychological issues Psychological and sociological viewpoints of deaf adults The criminal justice system and deaf people Psychodynamics of interaction between deaf and hearing people Each chapter begins with a set of objectives and concludes with suggested readings for further research. This edition contains 10 new and original case studies, including ones on hearing children of deaf adults, sudden hearing loss, a young deaf adult with mental illness, and more. Written by a seasoned deaf/hearing bilingual team, this unique text continues to be the go-to resource for students and future professionals interested in working with deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.

The first volume in a three-volume guide that introduces beginning students to conversational American Sign Language (ASL).

"You are about to enter the realm of Deaf culture, a world that may be completely new to you. Intriguingly, insiders and outsiders to this world may regard it in two completely different fashions. Let us examine this contradiction with the proverbial glass of water that can be viewed as either half-full or half-empty"--