Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf

Final Book Review

In his book “Seeing voices: A journey into the world of the deaf” Oliver Sacks has explored extensively the realms of deaf culture as an excited traveler giving a candid description of his maiden journey into an intriguing and foreign land (Sacks, 2012). According to Sacks, the culture, language, and connections among the deaf community reminisce new concepts and ideas that he can apply in his profession considering the vast knowledge in linguistics and psychiatry. It is for this reason, as he acquaints himself with the cultural norms and the thought process of the deaf community, Sacks has explored their tradition with the aim of understanding and appreciating their differences. In his work, he helps readers who may be new to the world of the deaf to appreciate and understand instead of empathizing with them. Therefore, “Seeing Voices” is a vital addition to the extensive literature outlining deaf culture. I like this book because it has played a significant role in raising awareness of Deaf Culture.

Summary of Important Points

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“Seeing Voices” is comprised of three extensive chapters highlighting on the history of the deaf, a detailed discussion of the brain and language and a critical examination of the student strike at Galluedet University in 1988 (Sacks, 2012). As a professional neurologist, Sacks has demonstrated his interest in understanding how humans usually compensate when they lose their perceptual ability. It is for this reason that the book has been described as “much about the visual perception and imagination as it is about deafness; it is a meditation on what it means by necessity to be intensely visual on every level”. Through such arguments, Sacks has reiterated his enthusiasm regarding the communicative potential manifested in the American Sign Language due to the extensive use of the visual space as a crucial expressive medium. It is through this analysis that Sacks has reiterated his interest in studying the deaf and the subsequent revelation regarding the human capacity for language and how the respective language may be developed in the absence of hearing, a core means of acquiring language.

An estimated 250,000 children are born deaf in the United States. In this essence, the author has reiterated the severity of the lack of hearing, especially among the deaf children who are forced to learn various ways of communicating through sign language (Sacks, 2012). Despite this, the book has reiterated that such approaches can potentially retard the growth of such children due to deficient language development. Sacks arguments have reiterated language as an important tool for the acquisition of culture. It is for this reason that he is keen to investigate the issues faced by the deaf community because one will be unable to acquire human culture in the absence of language. For this reason, the author has reiterated the need for children to be subjected to any form of language as early as possible. Among the deaf, sign language has been proposed as an appropriate intervention that can be implemented to help them learn the human culture. According to him, failure to introduce deaf children to sign language has an impact of depriving them the crucial access to human culture (Sacks, 2012). Therefore, for the articulation of meaningful propositions, Sacks emphasizes that children should learn and acquire language as early as possible. It is for this reason that Sacks stresses that “to be defective in language, for a human being, is one of the most desperate of calamities, for it is only through language that we enter fully into our human estate and culture, communicates freely with our fellow, acquires and share information.”

Criticism

Sacks has outlined the language learning issues in “Seeing Voices” from a hearing perspective. The reality is that there have been several changes in deaf issues since Sacks first wrote the book in the 1980s. Therefore, it is not clear whether the author does not have personal knowledge regarding deafness or it is the evolution of deafness that has made his arguments seem a little bit off. This is attributed to the admission by Sacks in the opening of the book that he did not know any sign language (Sacks, 2012). He also clarified that he had not participated in any deaf culture. Therefore, a majority of the issues he has highlighted in the book have been based on the hearing perspective, especially in line with his profession. Even though Sacks believes that the lack of prior experience in sign language and deaf culture has made him an impartial observer, the reality is that this has made him speak about the deaf people as if they were the product of their own conditions. This is because Sacks has failed to appreciate in his arguments that deaf people on every day are just like anyone else.

Besides this, I find the book highly informative. This is attributed to the fact that Sacks has written an interesting book highlighting various historical figures and language learning processes. One outstanding thing about Sacks is that he has conducted research regarding the learning language among many people (Sacks, 2012). Therefore, he has used the conclusions from such studies to incorporate his personal experiences with deaf people. It is for this reason that he has emphasized that keeping sign language away from deaf children is a major disadvantage since it inconveniences their interaction and acquisition of human culture.

Conclusion

“Seeing Voices” by Oliver Sacks has presented provocative meditation on biology, communication, and culture. The author has largely dwelt on the subject of deafness throughout his arguments, thus highlighting notable concerns regarding the essence of language learning among the young children. In this regard, Sacks has reiterated language learning as an appropriate approach that can be explored by deaf children to learn about human culture and interact with others. Therefore, this is an informative book to any person having an interest in language learning and deaf culture.

References

1. Sacks, O. W. (2012). Seeing voices: A journey into the world of the deaf. Picador.

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