Never the Twain Shall Meet (review)

REVIEWS Of Such Small Differences, JoAnne Greenberg, 262 pp., Henry Holt & Co., New York City, 1988. JoAnne Greenberg blends her Bergsonian insight into the human condition with an intriguing plot in this, her latest novel. The result is a fascinating tale of highly unique interpersonal relationships. In addition to the appeal Of Such Small Differences will have to any lover of good fiction, the story is of particular interest to all who have a connection to deaf-blindness. Just as quality literature far transcends psychology in its understanding of human behavior, JoAnne Greenberg's depth of insight into life as a deaf-blind person far exceeds any previous effort to intuit this difficult life circumstance. With equal perception, she communicates the essential dilemmas which grow out of the efforts of those few sighted hearing persons who seek to form genuine close adult bonds of mutuality and shared respect with a deaf-blind counterpart. Of Such Small Differences gives us an outstanding novelist successfully taking on a tremendously difficult novel. McCoy Vernon, Ph.D. Editor, American Annals of the Deaf Never the Twain Shall Meet, Richard Winefield, Ed.D., 129 pp., $19.95 hardcover, Gallaudet University Press, Washington , D.C., 1987. With a flair for the dramatic, Richard Winefield presents the conflict between Edward Miner Gallaudet and Alexander Graham Bell over use of sign language in the education of deaf people. In the introduction, the author states his natural bias in favor of sign language because of his teaching background , but the work is scrupulously fair in its presentation of both sides of the debate. Furthermore, Winefield has uncovered and brought to life some fascinating research on the history of the two men and their feud, as well as its effect on education of deaf people at that time. One disappointment is the book's noticeable absence of a "deaf perspective." In the final chapter, entitled Legacies, the author draws on his experience and on interviews with parents and educators, but fails to include any commentary from deaf people themselves. The strong points of this book are its well-documented research and its historical insights into Gallaudet and Bell. Its weaknesses lie in the lack of comment from deaf individuals and the limited analysis of the final chapter, which fails to connect the past with the present. DavidP. Sailer Research Associate Western Maryland College Westminster Parent-Infant Communication, third edition, 149 pp., $37.50 hardcover, and Parent-Infant Habilitation, Valerie Schuyler and Nancy Rushmer, 558 pp., $39.50 hardcover, Infant Hearing Publications, Portland, Oregon. These two publications can be considered a blueprint for implementing a program to serve young hearing-impaired children and their parents. When both of these publications are used in concert, the professional gets, as the authors state, the why, what and how of teaching parents and infants. Theory—the why—is as important for teachers as practice— the what and how—so these texts will be reviewed together. This is a thoughtful, accurate, insightful guide for parent educators who are required to wear many hats, including those of counselor, teacher, diagnostician and group facilitator. Every chapter is well documented and clearly written. The Parent Handouts are helpful materials for teaching such essential topics as audiological services, language acquisition and speech development. The chapter on the Parent Involvement Method is excellent. The authors state that professionals need to change their focus. Traditionally, teachers of the hearing impaired have been trained to teach the child. PIM requires the parent-infant specialist to focus on teaching parents skills to enable their child to learn in the natural environment of the home. The emphasis is not on drilling the child on specific skills, but rather in using the daily routine as the basis for learning. To facilitate this process, the parent must understand the processes of learning, language development and child behavior. Unfortunately, these books do not attend to teaching parents about deaf culture. While acknowledging the importance of interaction with deaf adults, the authors never address the history and traditions of deaf culture as an avenue for teaching parents about the social implications of deafness. And no program for parents is complete without systematic, comprehensive instruction about deaf culture. Jan C...