"Thirty-seven years ago, I vowed to write a truthful book about raising a deaf child." Rebecca Willman Gernon followed through on her promise with her deaf daughter Amy Willman in this extraordinary new narrative. Many stories have been told about a parent's struggle to help her deaf child succeed in a mostly hearing world. Amy Signs marks a signature departure in that both Rebecca and Amy relate their perspectives on their journey together.
When she learns of 11-month-old Amy's deafness in 1969, Rebecca fully expresses her anguish, and traces all of the difficulties she endured in trying to find the right educational environment for Amy. The sacrifices of the rest of her family weighed heavily on her, also. Though she resolved to place four-year-old Amy in Nebraska's residential school for deaf students, the emotional toll seemed too much to bear.
Amy's view acts as the perfect counterpoint. Interwoven with her mother's story, Amy's account confirms that signing served her best. She summarizes life in boarding school as "laughter and homesickness." She laughed with all of her deaf friends, though felt homesick at times. Amy thanks her mother for the gift of sign, asserting that a mainstream education would never have led her to earn a master's degree and later teach American Sign Language at the University of Nebraska. Amy Signs is a positive albeit cautionary tale for parents of deaf children today whose only choice is a mainstreamed education.
eBook - ePub
Amy Signs
A Mother, Her Deaf Daughter, and Their Stories
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Print ISBN
9781563685378
Subtopic
Social Science BiographiesTable of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- 1. December 1969 / Rebecca
- 2. Day Two and Beyond: Waiting / Rebecca
- 3. Date with Destiny / Rebecca
- 4. Stunned and Numb / Rebecca
- 5. Stomaching the Diagnosis / Rebecca
- 6. The Mechanical Tyrant / Rebecca
- 7. Starting the Climb / Rebecca
- 8. Twenty Minutes of Torture / Rebecca
- 9. Gibberish / Rebecca
- 10. Pavlov’s Daughter / Rebecca
- 11. Hard Lessons / Rebecca
- 12. Gain and Loss / Rebecca
- 13. The Scarlet Letter / Rebecca
- 14. Blessings and Fellow Travelers / Rebecca
- 15. Terrible Twos / Rebecca
- 16. Miles and Moments / Rebecca
- 17. Respite and Renewal / Rebecca
- 18. On the Road Again / Rebecca
- 19. Ready, Aim … / Rebecca
- 20. Dreams and Reality / Rebecca
- 21. Pets and Playmates / Amy
- 22. Hearing in a Deaf World / Rebecca
- 23. Summer Workshop Times Two / Rebecca
- 24. Emptying the Nest / Rebecca
- 25. The Year with Few Memories / Rebecca
- 26. Residential Life in the Primary Dorm / Amy
- 27. Smooth Roads / Rebecca
- 28. Education, the Primary Years / Amy
- 29. Moving into Deaf Culture / Rebecca and Amy
- 30. Caution, Speed Bumps Ahead / Rebecca
- 31. Mainstreaming, Not for Me / Amy
- 32. The Decision / Rebecca
- 33. Deaf Child in a Hearing World / Amy
- 34. Tossed and Blown by Life / Rebecca
- 35. Middle School / Amy
- 36. Gaining Independence / Rebecca
- 37. Do You Sign? / Amy
- 38. Driving Miss Daisy Crazy / Rebecca and Amy
- 39. More Audism / Rebecca and Amy
- 40. Stateside Travel / Rebecca and Amy
- 41. Plans in Turmoil / Rebecca and Amy
- 42. Europe and Beyond / Rebecca and Amy
- 43. Making Memories, High School / Amy
- 44. Last Chances / Rebecca
- 45. The Big Question / Rebecca and Amy
- 46. Graduation and College Bound / Rebecca and Amy
- 47. Gallaudet, New Horizons / Amy
- 48. No Choice, Mainstreamed in 1994 / Amy
- 49. Deaf in the Hearing World / Amy
- 50. Deaf or deaf, Does It Matter? / Amy
- 51. Adapting to Live in Two Worlds: Hearing and Deaf / Amy
- 52. My Eyes Are My Ears / Amy
- 53. Concluding Thoughts / Amy and Rebecca
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Yes, you can access Amy Signs by Rebecca Willman Gernon,Amy Willman in PDF and/or ePUB format. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.