In this Book
- Reflections: My Life in the Deaf and Hearing Worlds
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: Gallaudet University Press
summary
Hard of hearing since early childhood, John Christiansen spent the first 30 years of his life trying to fit into a hearing world that did little to accommodate his communication needs. Although he excelled in academics, Christiansen found social situations stressful at every level, until he obtained a position as a professor of sociology at Gallaudet University. There he learned sign language and joined a new community. Reflections: My Life in the Deaf and Hearing Worlds grew out of his personal experiences inhabiting these two worlds.
As a sociologist, Christiansen could identify the toll that trying to communicate with hearing people took on his psyche, the classic looking-glass self in action: I am what I think you think I am. He saw that people with hearing loss frequently blame themselves for social awkwardness and gaffs, even thought the responsibility for clear communication should be shared. Still, after living in the hearing world for most of his life, he opted to undergo a cochlear implantation to try to improve interaction with his hearing friends, wife, and children.
His description of adjusting to his cochlear implant brings fresh reality to the implant process. As he puts it, he was not a superstar. After ten years, though, he feels positive enough about his experience to endorse it. As a denouement to his affecting memoir, he describes the disruptive 2006 protest at Gallaudet over the choice of a new president, from his vantage point as a member of the search committee. Reflections stands as a remarkable account of one person’s navigation through the intricacies of two different and occasionally opposing worlds.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Part I.
- Part II.
- The 2006 Protest at Gallaudet University
- pp. 175-218
- Selected Bibliography
- pp. 223-226
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 227-230
Additional Information
ISBN
9781563684784
Related ISBN(s)
9781563684777
MARC Record
OCLC
794698827
Pages
242
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No