Hands of My Father

Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had really mixed feelings about this book. My heart went out to Myron because he was the interpreter for his deaf parents and it often put him in an awkward situation, ie at the deli or when his father's co workers were asking how he turned out to be 'normal'. He got to learn sign language and use it fluently, and he really cherished when he got to speak and communicate with the hearing. A major point was that deaf people tend to colonize in certain areas or times. For example, the parents and kids of multiple deaf families would go to the beach and sit in a circle together and different people would be communicating across what would be a conversational line. Another important point was, that during that time, not many people communicated using sign language and interpreters were not readily available at hospitals to help the deaf. Luckily for Myron's father, there was Myron BUT even then there were things said that Myron chose not to say to his father bc of the type of comments that were made.


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