47 pages • 1 hour read
Deaf Like Me
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Index of Terms
Auditory Training
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes ableist language and references to anti-d/Deaf bias.
Auditory training is one of the strategies that the John Tracy Clinic and other oralist organizations recommend to the Spradleys. Initially, Tom and Louise receive a microphone, amplifier, and set of headphones to make it easier for Lynn to hear some sounds. The point of auditory training is to help the brain recognize sounds and gradually learn to parse the auditory environment. In theory, auditory training is meant to make it easier for Lynn to lip read and to learn to speak. In practice, it makes little difference for Lynn. Auditory training is still used today as a form of hearing loss rehabilitation. There is some evidence that auditory training exercises can be helpful for those who have recently started using hearing aids or cochlear implants, but the practice is not equally helpful for everyone. Those who lose their hearing later in life and those who have mild or moderate hearing loss may find auditory training more helpful than people like Lynn, who have been profoundly deaf from birth.
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a university located in Washington, DC. It is notable because it is the only university in which the entire campus is designed to be accessible to Deaf students; all courses are offered in ASL and written English. Tom learns about Gallaudet University in the Volta Review, and Lynn mentions the school in her Epilogue. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, for whom the university is named, founded the American School for the Deaf, the institution where modern ASL was born. In addition to degrees in Deaf studies, American Sign Language, and interpretation, Gallaudet University offers degrees in many of the disciplines typically found in universities across the country.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are electronic devices that amplify and clarify sound, making it easier for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to understand speech and perceive sounds. These devices are programmed differently depending on an individual’s degree of hearing loss. Lynn gets hearing aids, but they make only a small difference in her ability to perceive sound. A hearing aid does not (typically) completely restore the range of hearing that hearing people experience. It is one of several tools that d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people might use to make it easier to communicate and understand spoken language. Hearing aids are not the same as cochlear implants. Hearing aids are fully removable, whereas cochlear implants have both an external and an internal (implanted) portion. Some d/Deaf people use cochlear implants, hearing aids, lip reading, ASL, written English, spoken English, or some combination of these as communication tools.
Profound Deafness
There are degrees of deafness that range from mild hearing loss to complete deafness in one or both ears. Deafness is usually categorized as mild, moderate, severe, or profound. People with profound deafness typically cannot hear any speech sounds and only some very loud sounds in a limited frequency range. Lynn is profoundly deaf, which is part of what makes it so difficult for her to learn to lip read. Most d/Deaf people who are able to lip read and speak verbal languages fluently either have mild-to-moderate deafness or lost their hearing after learning to speak. People like Lynn who have been profoundly deaf from birth tend to find sign languages to be the most natural and useful options for learning to communicate. Today, some profoundly deaf children receive cochlear implants so that they can learn a spoken language instead of a sign language, though this practice is controversial in the Deaf community.
Pure Oral Environment
In accordance with oralist principles, Louise and Tom are told that they must raise Lynn in a “pure oral environment” (80). That means that they must communicate with Lynn exclusively through speech and without the use of any gestures. That way, the theory goes, she will learn to lip read and will be forced to use her voice if she wants to communicate. If she is exposed to any gestures, she will rely on them instead of on speech. Tom and Louise take this advice very seriously, which ends up making it much more difficult for Lynn to communicate with them. She is only able to lip read a few words, most of which are nouns. For a child like Lynn, who is profoundly deaf, a pure oral environment amounts to language deprivation. The damage that this environment has caused her is evident the moment that Tom and Louise start communicating in ASL. For the first time, Lynn is able to learn her own name and the names of people and objects around her. In a pure oral environment, she could not understand when her parents told her that they loved her.
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