Abstract: Deaf culture in the US has changed a lot over time, with today’s society being a lot more accepting of the Deaf community compared to Mark Drolsbaugh’s time when he was a young boy in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being born into a Deaf family and having familiarity with American Sign Language, his gradual hearing loss caused him to be raised in two different worlds: the Deaf world and the hearing world. He was stripped away from the use of sign language for fears of “interrupting his speech levels.” This, unfortunately, caused his psychological and educational development to be set back, and his relationships with his friends and family would never have been the same. Mark eventually grew to fall in love with Deaf culture once he…show more content… Later on, but to now have an interpreter along his side made it even more apparent that he was different from the other students. He eventually grew to like his interpreter and how much it helped him interact with his peers, but there was still a strong sense that he felt “othered” such as him not being able to date a girl because of his deafness. What I loved the most while reading Deaf Again is that while he did struggle to live in a hearing world, and a time period when deafness was not widely accepted, he still had a hobby that he latched onto: baseball. He enjoyed watching the players at their games, his favorite team being the Philadelphia Phillies as he watched them every year, with his favorite players being Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt. He talks about how he would always play with an African American boy named Sekou, who lived in his neighborhood. Being that it was the 1950s, discrimination against people of color, especially of black people, was still pervasive and otherwise discouraging for people of different races to socialize and communicate with each other. Mark was frustrated that Sekou had to face this setback all because of the color of his skin, and he was also one of…show more content… Although it was humorous at times and I had a great laugh, while also acknowledging how Mark paints the picture through a more uplifting mood throughout the chapters, he does pinpoint the issues that he faced growing up in a society where being Deaf was nothing but a disability that needed fixing. It also was sad reading how he grew up as a kid trying to pass as a hearing person and was discouraged by his family and doctors to not use any sign language, such that he had developmental delays while interacting with his peers. He provides a firsthand experience of what it is like as someone that had to accept himself as a Deaf person, and in doing so, accept his identity and culture. The book is a lighthearted and profound book about the time period and how much has changed since then. I think that us hearing people will never understand the issues that the Deaf community has, but we can at least show support and provide help in the best way possible. Deaf people should be treated equally and given the chance to succeed in
