by Nora Ellen Groce
foreword by John W. M. Whiting
Harvard University Press, 1985
Cloth: 978-0-674-27040-4 | Paper: 978-0-674-27041-1 | eISBN: 978-0-674-03795-3
Library of Congress Classification HV2561.M49G76 1985
Dewey Decimal Classification 362.420974494

ABOUT THIS BOOK | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK

From the seventeenth century to the early years of the twentieth, the population of Martha’s Vineyard manifested an extremely high rate of profound hereditary deafness. In stark contrast to the experience of most Deaf people in our own society, the Vineyarders who were born Deaf were so thoroughly integrated into the daily life of the community that they were not seen—and did not see themselves—as handicapped or as a group apart. Deaf people were included in all aspects of life, such as town politics, jobs, church affairs, and social life. How was this possible?

On the Vineyard, hearing and Deaf islanders alike grew up speaking sign language. This unique sociolinguistic adaptation meant that the usual barriers to communication between the hearing and the Deaf, which so isolate many Deaf people today, did not exist.


See other books on: Deaf | Deafness | Genetic aspects | Sign language | Sociolinguistics
See other titles from Harvard University Press