A Loss for Words : The Story of Deafness in a Family

**"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. “A personal journey of introspection by a young woman whose childhood was spent as parent to her deaf parents” (Kirkus Reviews).From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker acted as the ears and voice for her parents, who lost their hearing at a young age. As soon as she was old enough to speak, she assumed the responsibility of interpreter—confirming doctors'appointments and managing her parents'business transactions. While the Walkers'family was warm and loving, outside the comfort of their 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. In recounting her story, she encourages us to question the inequalities that shape our society, introduces us to the warm, supportive deaf community, and illuminates the creativity and kindness of humanity.Winner of the Christopher Award“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 This volume presents an autobiography of the author. Born in Indianapolis in 1952, Lou Ann is one of three hearing daughters of Gale and Doris Jean Walker, both deafened as babies by illnesses. As the oldest child, the author served as her parents' "interpreter, '' dealing with outsiders. There is humor in her recollections but nothing lighthearted in accounts of crude or condescending reactions to her father and mother from indifferent people. Walker is candid in detailing her own frustrations and the burdens of living closely with the deaf. Little by little, this premature adulthood caused Walker to develop a combination of guilt, shame, and resentment for the loss of her childhood to these circumstances. After graduating from Harvard, she eagerly went her own way, establishing a writing career in New York and also helping a New York street gang, called the Nasty Homicides, a group of deaf street toughs, driven to violence by their deafness. Walker became obsessed by the gang, and through their plight and her experiences, she came to understand herself, her parents, and deaf people as a whole. She maintains throughout that the deaf have always been treated as second-class citizens

From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker was the ears and voice for her deaf parents. Their family life was warm and loving, but outside the home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected them.

"A deeply moving, often humorous, and beautiful account of what it means to be the hearing child of profoundly deaf parents." --Oliver Sacks

Prologue Watching Rearview Mirror Missed Connections Mom Dad Good Sound Untold Secrets Listening Spies Telepathy Fitting In Learning Broken Ears Commencement Metaphor Vanilla Fires Quicksand All Through the Night Home Again Epilogue The author recounts her life as a young girl raised by deaf parents, in a memoir that reflects on how parents grow and how children learn.