Tom Humphries

Carol A. Padden

Refusing to accept the limitations others have placed on the deaf, the authors--themselves deaf--argue for a deaf culture, one united by and expressed through the American Sign Language

Voices from a Culture

Deaf in America

In a study written from within the deaf community, the authors demonstrate how deaf people live historically, culturally, and linguistically complex lives, and how being or becoming deaf opens the door to an enormously rewarding life.

Inside Deaf Culture

Written by authors who are themselves Deaf, this unique book illuminates the life and culture of Deaf people from the inside, through their everyday talk, their shared myths, their art and performances, and the lessons they teach one another. Padden and Humphries employ the capitalized "Deaf" to refer to deaf people who share a natural language--American Sign Language (ASL)--and a complex culture, historically created and actively transmitted across generations.

Professor Department of Communication Carol A Padden

Associate Professor Department of Communication and the Teacher Education Program Tom L Humphries

In this absorbing story of the changing life of a community, the authors of Deaf in America reveal historical events and forces that have shaped the ways that Deaf people define themselves today. Inside Deaf Culture relates Deaf people’s search for a voice of their own, and their proud self-discovery and self-description as a flourishing culture. Carol Padden and Tom Humphries show how the nineteenth-century schools for the deaf, with their denigration of sign language and their insistence on oralist teaching, shaped the lives of Deaf people for generations to come. They describe how Deaf culture and art thrived in mid-twentieth century Deaf clubs and Deaf theatre, and profile controversial contemporary technologies. Most triumphant is the story of the survival of the rich and complex language American Sign Language, long misunderstood but finally recently recognized by a hearing world that could not conceive of language in a form other than speech. In a moving conclusion, the authors describe their own very different pathways into the Deaf community, and reveal the confidence and anxiety of the people of this tenuous community as it faces the future. Inside Deaf Culture celebrates the experience of a minority culture—its common past, present debates, and promise for the future. From these pages emerge clear and bold voices, speaking out from inside this once silenced community.

Tom L. Humphries

Robert Hills

Peggy Lott

Daniel W. Renner

Learning American Sign Language: Levels I & II--Beginning & Intermediate, Second Edition, is a major revision of the First Edition, designed to help learners successfully interact with deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users. Written by two leading authorities in the field, the text is used as the basic text for a one-semester or full-year course in ASL. Lessons are structured around language needed for common-life situations, and examples are presented in the form of dialogues coupled with grammar and vocabulary instruction. Information is also included about the culture of Deaf people in the United States. The book is supported by a new videotape and an instructor's manual.

Carol A. Padden

About

Books

Join the club