A Loss For Words: The Story Of Deafness In A Family [Paperback]

A deeply moving, often humorous, and beautiful account
of what it means to be the hearing child of profoundly deaf parents . . . I
have rarely read anything on the subject more powerful or poignant than this
extraordinary personal account by Lou Ann Walker.  — Oliver Sacks

From the
time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker acted as the ears and voice for her
parents, who had lost their hearing at a young age. As soon as she was old
enough to speak, her childhood ended, and she immediately assumed the
responsibility of interpreter—translating doctors’ appointments and managing
her parents’ business transactions. Their family life was warm and loving,
but outside the home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected
them. 

In this
deeply moving memoir, Walker offers us a glimpse of a different world, bringing
with it a broader reflection on how parents grow alongside their children and
how children learn to navigate the world through the eyes of their parents.

Beautifully written and deeply affecting . . . There is humor in [Walker's] recollections but nothing lighthearted in accounts of crude or condescending reactions to her father and mother from indifferent people. Walker is candid in dealing with her own frustrations and the burdens of life with the deaf.

A deeply moving, often humorous, and beautiful account of what it means to be the hearing child of profoundly deaf parents . . . I have rarely read anything on the subject more powerful or poignant than this extraordinary personal account by Lou Ann Walker. -Oliver Sacks

[Walker) describes in moving detail the joys of growing up in a family where the simplest communication was never taken for granted. -Newsweek

In this remarkable memoir, Walker recreates the pain and the joy of growinglÓ(