The Gallaudet Survival Guide to Signing by Leonard G. Lane (review)

REVIEWS The Psychology of Deafness, McCay Vernon, Ph.D., and Jean Andrews, Ph.D., 304 pp., hardcover, Longman, Inc., White Plains, NY, 1989. Vernon and Andrews have succeeded in writing a text which has an orientation to both culture and pathology. Whether this will appease those who oppose a pathologicalorientation toward deafness remains to be seen. What is clear is the authors' insiders' perspective on deafness. These are not detached critics and that is reassuring. Considering the clinical nature of several chapters, particularly those on genetics and mental illness, some readers will need this reassurance to stick with the book to its end. To overlook some of the work's final chapters, to be sure, would be a major loss. Some of the most stimulating work is saved until the final section. At the volume's close comes a most fascinating argument in support of a new treatise on the authoritarian personality style and its relationship to deafness. Here also is an excellent chapter on a bilingual/bicultural approach to learning (the authors suggest exposing deaf children to reach interactions with both deaf and hearing adults so they can naturally extract rules of language and thus generate their own, much in the manner that hearing children learn language from their parents ). A much-needed chapter on the hard-of-hearing individual also is included. The text concludes with an interesting chapter that suggests science could learn much from deafness if researchers explored deafness as an experiment of nature. As we have come to expect from any book Vernon writes, there amount of information is almost overwhelming. Students and professionals in many fields should find it helpful, with plentiful common sense advice and multitudinous case examples. On the down side, the case examples frequently need more in the sense of comment or closure. Additionally, in some cases, the book could benefit from newer, fresher information . For example, the chapter on genetics mentions amniocentesis , but not the newer neonatal tests, such as chorionic villus sampling. Similarly, more recent data need to be included in Vernon's treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder . Furthermore, it is disturbing to find homosexuality deat with in a chapter on behavior disorders and pathologies. The accompanying case study does little to give credence to the disclaimer that, under current diagnostic criteria, homosexuality is no longer seen as a mental illness. In spite of these weaknesses, this volume gives professionals experienced in deafness muich food for thought and professionals new to deafness a solid introduction to the field from experts who both know and respect our culture. Linda Risser Lytle, Ph.D. Psychotherapist Silver Spring MD Comprehensive Reference Manual for Signers and Interpreters , Third Edition, Cheryl M. Hoffman, 222 pp., paperback, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1988. Sadly, this book is neither manual nor dictionary, despite its claims to be both. It is best described as a list. English words are listed alphabetically, followed by its sign synonym and a description of the sign. Thus, ABODE = house or home, ABSURD = silly, INDEBTEDNESS = owe, etc. Many of these simplified synonyms are obvious, others are just plain wrong, such as ARBITRATE = judge, ARCHAIC = old or GRUELING = hard or difficult. To suggest that these are accurate translation insults anyone who knows what the interpreatation and translation of languages is all about. Without explanation, other words are given synonyms which apparently explain English idioms, e.g. BULL'S EYE = middle (+ exact). English phrases which approximate ASL signs also are listed alphabetically, e.g. BURST OUT LAUGHING , followed with a lengthy description of the sign. Some conventions of Pidgin Signed English are included, as are the word equivalents of gestures which hearing people normally use, e.g. POINTFORME, or the gestural score one for me. The author makes no distinctions between any of these categories and so leaves the inexperienced signer with no notion of the differences between ASL, PSE and gestures. Perhaps the most helpful items in the book are those signs with have no English equivalents and native signs for foreign countries, which the author includes to help the "dedicated people whose memories need assistance." These useful entries , however, are very few and far between and certainly do not justify the purchase...