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Reviews Choices in Deafness; A Parents Guide, Sue Schwartz, Ph.D., editor, 212 pp., $12.95 paperback, Woodbine House, 10400 Connecticut Ave., Kensington, MD 20895, 1987 Here is practical and informative book for parents who must choose how to educate and communicate with their deaf child. It responds to those questions of what to do, what can be done and what to expect. There is a step-by-step guide for using available services and a medical explanation of hearing loss. The heart of the book describes three different methods of educating deaf children, cued speech, the oral approach and Total Communication. Four narratives from parents who chose the method accompanies each description . Through these stories, the reader glimpses what may follow the choice. The book bolsters parents with stories of hard-won successes, and it gives esteem to their input in their child's education, but does it fairly present all the choices, and is the viewpoint of other parents sufficient for making sound decisions? Reading this book, one would think that schools for the deaf are not worth considering and that ASL/English bilingualism is not a possibility for deaf children. More importantly , this book lacks the viewpoint of the deaf, of the people who have lived with the consequences of their parents' choices. It is valuable for the parent-reader to read other parents' experiences in making choices and living with them. But doesn't a parent also want to read the deaf child's experience of these choices? Where is the viewpoint of deaf adults? Only one deaf adult appears here, as a parent choosing Total Communication in addition to the oral approach of her own education. As vital as is the parent's view, it is prone to flaws which appear characteristically in this book. The reader is left wondering if these parents have really accepted the deafness of their children. Being mainstreamed with hearing children is regarded as the benchmark of success, and too often "normal " in this book means hearing, not deaf and well-educated , or deaf and well-adjusted, or deaf and happy to be oneself. Again and again, the parents say they want their child to live in the hearing world, as if it were possible for a deaf person to not live in the world of hearing people, or as if it were possible for a deaf person to cease being deaf and experience the world as a hearing person. This book has not gone far enough in illuminating the choices. Sally Haverkamp Teacher The Learning Center for Deaf Children Framingham, Massachusetts Movement and Fundamental Motor Skills for Sensory Deprive Children, Laura E. Kratz, Louis M. Tutt and Dolores A. Black, 81pp. $18.75 hardback, Charles C. Thomas, 2600 South First Street, Springfield, Illinois, 62794-9265, 1987. Movement and Fundamental Motor Skills for Sensory Deprived Children makes a careful examination of the needs of deafblind infants and children. The authors' major premise is that with movement, these children can reach their learning potential, but without it, they live a meager existence. They suggest that the fundamental element of teaching this special population is bringing stimuli to the children tactually while still using any residual hearing and vision they might have. They further state that a communication system must be established using tactile signals and cues. Background information, etiology, definitions and characteristics of deaf-blind children are provided in the book. Also, an overview of developmental theories as they relate to educational approaches is given. Home training is vital and strong emphasis is placed on early intervention. Two correspondence courses are cited for parents of deaf-blind children as well as stimulating activities to use with infants. Within the book, realistic goal setting, task analysis and behavior modification are highlighted. Sequential steps for movement and fundamental motor skills are supplied in addition to helpful evaluation scales and checklists for assessment . fanie Waifs M. Ed. Center on Deafness Western Maryland College Westminster, Maryland 252 A.A.O. I October 1988 ...

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