Deaf Like Me

Tom and Louise attend a parent meeting at Lynn’s school, the Starr King Exceptional School, which prides itself on being a purely oral environment. At the meeting, a woman named Barbara Simmons announces that there will be another meeting of concerned parents the following day to talk with Deaf adults about using sign language. The parents want to help improve their deaf children’s communication. This announcement is met with stunned silence. A teacher, Mrs. Conklin, warns Tom and Louise to stay away from “parents who want to use a manual approach” (202). Another parent asks a question about discipline issues with deaf children. Mrs. Garvin, a preschool teacher, reminds him to treat his deaf son like a “normal” child and insists that “[y]our child doesn’t have to know what you say to follow a simple command like ‘go to bed’” (203). 

Other parents, including Tom and Louise, admit that they also have trouble disciplining their deaf children. The Spradleys find it hard to get Lynn to sleep in her own bed. Attempts at discipline devolve into tantrums, resulting in parents using corporal punishment. Tom asks how many deaf children actually learn to speak and lip read fluently. Mrs. Garvin tries to avoid answering.