Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks - a Journey into the Land of the Deaf - Book Report/Review Example

Seeing Voices: A Journey into the Land of the Deaf Oliver Sacks of California Press, 1989) Reviewed by On my honor I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment _______________________________ Psych 406: Perception Dr. Varvel Virginia Commonwealth University November 10, 2012 Part.1: Introduction Seeing voices is about the Deaf, and there need to know the language to communicate. It is more for the people around deaf, then the deaf themselves. The book carries a useful material about the crucial deafness and its possible situation. The many examples and experiences shared in the book that supports the topic; all together it’s a complete handout to consider the topic of deafness. The author of the book Oliver Sacks is a Neurologist and Author of many books related to his subject. He was born in 1933 in London; his mother was a surgeon and his father a general practitioner. From 2007 to 2012 he served at the Columbia University Medical Center. Currently he is teaching at the NYU School of Medicine, there he also practices at Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. He started his career as a neurologist in 1966 at Beth Abraham Hospital in Bronx. He is well known for his collection of case histories. Alone with Seeing Voices he has written about Colorblind in The Island of the Colorblind, his experiences as a doctors in Migraine and as a patient in A Leg to Stand On. He also wrote an autobiography and his recent works include Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2007). The Mind’s Eye (2010) and Hallucinations (2012). (Sacks, 1989) The book should be read to understand the people with deafness. It provides the understanding of being deaf; recommend what should be done to improve the world of deaf. It is also a good source of information for the student related to the subject as the material is quite literary. I selected the book because I liked the way Deafness is explained by Sacks (1989), its history, type’s treatment, consequences and acceptance by the hearing was interesting to study. Part.2: About the Book “Seeing Voices: A Journey into the Land of the Deaf” is a very informative book, it provides a comprehensive and easy to understandable history of the Deaf at its first half, case study of the Deaf at secondly and the debate ends on the revolution of the Deaf at the Gallaudet University. Sound is a sensory perception that completes the communication system of the human body. If any sense is not working it discomforts communication necessary to live normal. Yost and Fay (18) discuss the problem of sound source identification as exceptionally complex. Sacks in his book also regard deafness, not an abnormality but a complexity. Sacks say that there are two types of deaf post-lingual and pre-lingual. Post-lingual deaf are those who develop deafness after they have acquired the speech and language, usually after the age of six those who become deaf are not mute. Whereas the pre-lingual deaf are deaf from the birth or become deaf without the knowledge of speech and language, such deaf are ‘Deaf-mutes’ the term bettered with time derived from ‘Deaf and Dumb’. The deaf are proved to have the same caliper of intellect according to psychological study and do not support to considering them ‘Dumb’ anyways. Sacks being involved in psychological study defend this point in his book with the fact that the deaf world is limited, their knowledge sources are limited that is why they have less exposure to the world. This is the reason to their less knowledge but intelligence can be more than normal at some cases, but not less. There is a long history of deaf helped to compete the normal society. At different times doctors, teachers, parents and concerned have tried to help deaf speak or sign. Different people have different perceptions, some thought sign should not be taught to the deaf instead they should be taught to speak, but others understood the importance of sign for the deaf, Sacks in his book support the sign language proving its importance through examples. He believed that the perception of those with and without hearing differ, that’s why they should be treated differently. For those who were lucky enough to learn language before being deaf, deafness is an experience. But for those who are born with it sound is confusion forever. Deaf would not come and tell he is deaf, but it is obvious by the sign he shows. Thus sing language as proved too by know is an important tool to overcome pre-lingual deafness. The other term used in the book that overcastted was Lip reading, it is a difficult perception to make but interesting. Memory and perception are two things that vary from person to person, defining the cases as individuals. “But the perception and memory were all for particulars” (Sack 53) this is a statement he makes to define the case of Kasper, a seventeen year old kept in dungeon, deprived of all communications. The point to make here is that the perception seems to depend upon memory. Whether it’s ‘Joseph’, ‘Kasper’ or ‘Massieu’ all deaf, but different due to the difference of perception, age, surroundings, opportunities, class, culture, depending on their memory. Sacks (1989) also define the sign language effectively. His research starts from the days sign language was disregarded and the French grammar was taught at schools for deaf, soon with the realization of considering pre and post lingual deaf different sign language was regarded important. The revolution than came to ASL (American Sign Language) which stayed, more deaf school open in America than in other parts of the world. Introduction of English grammar is of the same part. The writer’s another point encountered as worth highlighting in sense of pure perception is ‘Inner speech” Sacks says (1989, pp. 73) “And the inner speech of the deaf may be very distinctive” Inner speech does not need eye; ear or tongue but these senses only enhance the characteristic of it. A relation between the child and the mother is an example to it; a mother perceives the needs of her child before he/she starts talking. He also explains how it helps the deaf child to have deaf parents. The writer seems inspired by the fact. His openness to the signing world is very clear. The book many time terms the deaf ‘A different world” people of a different community which is actually fair. The same way culture and religion define people community, likewise deafness also defines one. The last part of the book is about the incident of the Gallaudet University in 1988. The students of the worlds famous university of the deaf went on a strike demanding a deaf president, although the demand was forsaken but the deaf community emerged as a particular society aiming to distinguish themselves as People of a different world, where words so on speak but are visible. The writer explains the feeling of the deaf very accurately in this part of the book. The observation is so vast that it produced the feelings of being deaf, loud and clear. Timely education of the deaf is very necessary to make, the situation would be entirely different according to Sacks if the education is started at the right time, the case of ‘charlotte’ relates to it. He defines how difficult it becomes to teach old then young. The isolation becomes more intense within if the communication is delayed. People do not realize deafness early in deaf by birth, if the diagnosis is early it is helpful in a long run. The writer also recommends the parents and other close relatives and friends to learn signs for their deaf child as early as possible to let him adjust in the normal society though limited but important. Part.3: Conclusion and Recommendation 3.1 Conclusion Sound is a great sense, even blind from birth do not suffer as the deaf by birth, because the visual without voice is more irritating then the voice without visual. The writer explains deafness and its consequences from the time it was misunderstood to now when it is understood as Different. Deafness is not normal but it can overcome by education. To learn and excel is the way to live. The deafness becomes crucial without knowledge of communication and the factor effecting it are age and stage. Sign is the most important part of deaf, it is the deaf language and it is the right of every deaf to acquire it at the right age and stage. According to the writer deaf are different people having a different land: agreed, but they should be accepted and helped instead of being left alone. The book was very informative; it covered almost every aspect of deafness. The writer’s material in account of the time the book is written is quite accurate. It provides the realistic picture of the subject. 3.2 Recommendation The book is recommended to students related to psychology and neurology. It is also very effective for people who are associated to any deaf. It provides a very original perspective of being deaf or dealing with deaf. Part.4: Works cited Sacks, W. O., Seeing Voices: A Journey into the Land of Deaf. Los Angelis: University of California Press, 1989. Yost, A. W. & Fay, R. R. Ed. Auditory Perception of Sound Sources.USA: Springer, 2007. Sacks, O., Biography: Oliver Sacks, MD, FRCP. KPFdigital, 2012. Web. 11 November 2012. Read More