Amy Signs

by Gernon, Rebecca Willman; Willman, Amy

• ISBN13: 9781563685378
• ISBN10: 156368537X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-31
• Publisher: Gallaudet Univ Pr

Summary

"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 Signsmarks 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 Signsis a positive albeit cautionary tale for parents of deaf children today whose only choice is a mainstreamed education.

Author Biography

Rebecca Willman Gernon writers plays, short stories, and memoirs in New Orleans, LA. Amy Willman is a Lecture in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
December 1969	p. 1
Day Two and Beyond: Waiting	p. 9
Date with Destiny	p. 17
Stunned and Numb	p. 26
Stomaching the Diagnosis	p. 35
The Mechanical Tyrant	p. 42
Starting the Climb	p. 50
Twenty Minutes of Torture	p. 56
Gibberish	p. 61
Pavlov's Daughter	p. 65
Hard Lessons	p. 69
Gain and Loss	p. 71
The Scarlet Letter	p. 79
Blessings and Fellow Travelers	p. 83
Terrible Twos	p. 92
Miles and Moments	p. 95
Respite and Renewal	p. 104
On the Road Again	p. 110
Ready, Aim…	p. 116
Dreams and Reality	p. 123
Pets and Playmates	p. 133
Hearing in a Deaf World	p. 137
Summer Workshop Times Two	p. 147
Emptying the Nest	p. 164
The Year with Few Memories	p. 171
Residential Life in the Primary Dorm	p. 174
Smooth Roads
Education, the Primary Years	p. 192
Moving into Deaf Culture	p. 197
Caution, Speed Bumps Ahead	p. 202
Mainstreaming, Not for Me	p. 207
The Decision	p. 209
Deaf Child in a Hearing World	p. 214
Tossed and Blown by Life	p. 219
Middle School /Amy	p. 225
Gaining Independence	p. 230
Do You Sign? I Amy	p. 236
Driving Miss Daisy Crazy	p. 243
More Audism	p. 252
Stateside Travel	p. 255
Plans in Turmoil	p. 260
Europe and Beyond	p. 265
Making Memories, High School	p. 269
Last Chances	p. 274
The Big Question	p. 277
Graduation and College Bound	p. 281
Gallaudet, New Horizons	p. 287
No Choice, Mainstreamed in 1994	p. 291
Deaf in the Hearing World	p. 295
Deaf or deaf, Does It Matter?	p. 300
Adapting to Live in Two Worlds: Hearing and Deaf	p. 303
My Eyes Are My Ears	p. 311
Concluding Thoughts	p. 314
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