My Deaf Daughter

Sixty years ago, my daughter Janice was almost two. This was about the time we got the diagnosis that she was profoundly deaf. There had been clues earlier but my wife and I dismissed them as if we were deaf to her needs, even when I dropped a bag full of coins on a wood floor and Janice didn’t stir.

We made a decision which was controversial then as it is today. Our choice was to follow the course of the John Tracy Clinic which was to go with oralism as her first language, rather than sign language.

The third option was called a total approach which sounds wiser, but we bought into the idea that, given the two modalities, deaf children would be more inclined to use their hands and less likely to speak intelligibly.

The program at the Tracy Clinic was a four-year commitment. Under the guidance of a tutor, Janice learned how to lipread and speak, one word at a time. Her first word was not denotative but an action verb which literally demonstrated the power of speech. The word was open and her world opened.  

Our task was to create situations which encouraged her to open doors, boxes, bottles, books, fists et al. We had her put her fingers to our mouths to feel the breath of that word.

I'm reminded of the kindness people show in a special needs setting. There is an inherent goodness in caregivers, and, to some extent, everyone shows their best self. Being a nonagenarian, I experience some of the same deferential treatment. Even if I don't need any help, I enjoy the human interchange.

By age six Janice had about a hundred-word vocabulary she could speak and read many more words on the lips. When she entered public school, she quickly learned sign language. Today she has a very large command of the language both receptively and expressively.

Did we do the right thing? I believe we did, however the argument for early signing also has merit. Some would argue that by forbidding her to use her hands in those formative years we denied her the expression of her feelings and other abstract ideas.

In the deaf community, oralism is frowned upon, yet Janice can function to a great extent in the hearing world because of her early skills. I marvel at her hard-won independence and how she navigates her life having never heard her own voice. I also love watching her orchestrating a manual ballet as she communicates with her deaf friends on her video phone. She has felt the walls of this world and learned how to climb them.