Products & Gadgets for the Hearing Impaired

Deaf Like Me

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars drf321
Very touching story of parents realizing that it is ok to have a deaf daughter and that she is no less of a person than her older brother. Many of the misconceptions are brought out in the story of their wanting nothing but the best for their daughter. Highly recommend this book for anybody that has a hearing impaired child or know of parents who are struggling with this in their family.

5 Stars Deaf Like Me - A Must Read For Parents of Deaf Children
This book, the true-life story of parents who struggle to do the best they can for their deaf child, is one of the most concise and important books ever written on this subject.

The book doesn’t tell hearing parents what decisions they should make for their deaf child, but instead tells this family’s story in an easy to read and engaging first-person narrative, written from the point of view of the child’s father.

Lynn Spradley’s revelation at the dinner table, after her parents teach her the first signs they’ve learned at a night school class, is heart breaking and revealing. ‘Name me?’ she demands to know. What is my name? Without sign language, there was no way to bridge the gap between parent and child, and she was five years old before she knew her own name.

3 Stars Good Book, But May Be Overrated
Many people find this book THE book to read in regards to a deaf child’s experience (of course, that includes her family as well). And this book is very good at showing you what a hearing family goes through when a deaf child is born into it. It tells of the “typical” struggle between raising their child strictly oral or letting them sign, too.

Many doctors and therapists tell hearing parents that to allow their deaf child to sign would be to hinder their ability to speak, lipread, or progress intellectually. All of this is hogwash, but, nevertheless, that is what this book is about. What should we do with our child?

If you’re looking for that kind of informative read, this book is sure to please. For me, it was just another book about the same old issue and I found myself skimming often just to get to something original. As harsh as that may sound, that’s just this deafie’s opinion. :v)

5 Stars Great Read
This book was required reading for my ASL class. I had heard from my classmates that it was an interesting book. As I found out for myself, it was wonderful. The lies that the “mainstream” told to the Spradleys is still evident today where kids are forced to speak, wear cochlear implants and hearing aids and deny their native language. Being able to tell your child that you love them and have them understand is paramount and by denying a deaf child their native language, they can’t “hear” you say that you love them…they have to see it.

5 Stars A universal story told in particulars–strongly recommended
“Deaf Like Me” is one of my favorite books of all time in any genre, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who comes across this page.

The book is a richly detailed autobiography of one family’s struggles to grow up with deafness in mid-1960s America. As such, it provides a terrific introduction into a key moment in the history of deaf education when deaf children were still suffering from a wrong-headed emphasis on lip reading and vocalization, rather than sign language. Members of the deaf community have long heralded the book for this reason.

But “Deaf Like Me” isn’t a book just for deaf people and others interested in deaf culture. To the contrary, I think, it’s a book for anyone who grew up in 1960s America, and possibly for anyone who has struggled to communicate with loved ones ever.

That’s because there are so many parallels between this little family’s struggles to learn how to communicate with one another against a background of changing norms and great uncertainty, and the difficulties that many American families went through in the 1960s to speak with and understand one another on issues ranging from civil rights to the Vietnam war. Such struggles afflict most generations everywhere.

None of this is to suggest that I think the authors of “Deaf Like Me” intended to write a metaphorical treatise on 1960s America much less humanity. To the contrary, I believe the authors’ sole focus was on the Spalding family’s particular struggles. One of the authors was a trained anthropologist, and that comes through in the book’s unerring attention to details as opposed to generalizations. It’s these details in large part that bring the book to life.

Nonetheless, as a hearing person with no deaf family members, I found myself identifying with this book a lot. I suffered as the little girl Lynn and her parents suffered. And I rejoiced in their discovery that everyone in the family can express themselves and be understood if only they learn to “hear” one another in the different ways that each of us has to communicate.

Strongly recommended.

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Listen with the Heart Relationships and Hearing Loss

While distressing for an individual, hearing loss also takes a heavy toll on family and friends. These stories chronicle the unique challenges of hearing loss in interpersonal relationships, including communication, self-identity, and how to continue sharing and growing in these relationships. Many shared activities, such as enjoying music, whispering sweet nothings to a lover, and hearing children’s voices are deeply missed by both the hearing and hearing-impaired relationship partners. This book illustrates the power of relationships to transform people and how each party has unparalleled opportunities to grow in profound and unpredictable ways.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Insights into Counseling with Hard of Hearing & Deaf
This is layperson version of Harvey’s book: Pschotherapy with Deaf and H-O-H People. The title must be special to those with hearing loss, since I heard a blind golfer (Kevin Hall) speak that he too listens with the heart.

He is a fascinating human who brings his enthusiasm for life and better relationships to his counseling with those with hearing difficulties. He does this in relating ten counseling cases concerning such as: student-pupil-parent-school faculty tensions; old age and hearing; the isolation and despair of hearing loss; hearing + deaf marriage; parents and birth of deaf child; siblings dealing with deaf sister;

There is much to be gleaned from this read, all written with great sensitivity and joy and humorous style. Harvey demonstrates with his own practice experience how hearing loss affects not just the individual, but those around as well. One will certainly garner a heightened awareness and sensitivity to these individuals, who normally feel low esteem, isolation and depression due to not catching all the hearing world has to offer.

Remarkably, this outstanding counselor has helped many with his kind, but to the point approach.

Hoping to receive some spiritual tidbits, there were really not much of these. Some from Dali Lama, etc. but not much for the Christian. The last case with the older lady who was in close contact with God was exhibited as experiential.

That said, this is valuable resource for those in counseling, or around deaf and hard-of-hearing to raise our sensitivity bars to new levels that we might be more kind resource for these individuals.

4 Stars Insights
I bought and read this book because of a recommendation given to my husband by his communications course instructor. First of all, just having it with me was a communication helper. People would ask about the title and I would explain what it was about and why I was reading it. Secondly, I liked the book because it detailed numerous real life examples of relationships of those who are hearing impaired and includes the writer’s/ psychologist’s interactions, observations and recommendations for those individuals. But it was also very emotional reading and it taught me some things about myself and my communication issues. My only negative comment: I would have liked to see a few less examples and some sort of summation — “a putting together of it all” at the end, but the author didn’t do so. But I liked the book and think it will prove even more helpful as I read through certain portions again with a view to applying what I learn.

4 Stars Interesting book
I have several friends who have lost their hearing or only have partial hearing. This book is written from a laypersons point of view, and is not technical at all. It gives true accounts of families in therapy situations with hearing loss either as the reason for the therapy or how hearing loss has affected the family in dealing with life’s issues. Listen with the Heart uses humor and down-to-earth writing. I enjoyed reading it, giving me food for thought.

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Literacy and Your Deaf Child What Every Parent Should Know

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Outstanding
A truly outstanding and eye-opening resource for parents of deaf children. Our deaf son is 14 months old and we have been reading numerous publications to try to prepare ourselves for his education. This book is full of important and eye-opening recommendations that I’m sure we will use on a daily basis in the years to come.

5 Stars An excellent informational and guide volume
David A. Stewart and Bryan R. Clarke are two dedicated teachers with years of experience working with deaf children. In Literacy And Your Deaf Child: What Every Parent Should Know, Stewart and Clarke effectively collaborate to create an instructional guide specifically appropriate for parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children who want to do everything they can to ensure their hearing-impaired child learns to read and write with fluency and competence. Also discussed are the practices and issues of hearing aids, cochlear implants, speech reading, and sign communication. Emphasizing the developmental link between American Sign Language and English literacy for children who learn and use it, Literacy And Your Deaf Child is an excellent informational and guide volume and is very highly recommended for anyone who works with hearing-disabled children.

5 Stars A must for all parents of deaf children
This book reminds parents of deaf children how crucial it is that they give their child a language rich environment regardless of whether they decide on signing or not. I am an educational interpreter and see children who are so far behind on their language skills because they don’t get enough language support at home. I really encourage anyone who has a deaf child or works with deaf children to read this book.

5 Stars Literacy and Your Deaf Child: What Every Parent Should know`
WOW! I was worrying if it was old book but it was so neat. WHEW!! I read it and put it away in the shelf. I feel good to read. Thank you!

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