The Shape of Sound
Original

The Shape of Sound

Fiona Murphy2021
A vivid and essential memoir of deafness, disability and identity by Australian writer Fiona Murphy
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Reviews

Photo of Cefe diaz
Cefe diaz@cefe
5 stars
Jan 8, 2023

Enjoyed this book. We take for granted our ability to hear and this book describes the hardships of life for those that were born with a partial hearing impairment.

+1
Photo of Katy Watkins
Katy Watkins@katy
5 stars
Sep 17, 2022

It’s a wonderful, eye-opening read. I had no idea how much not having full hearing could effect one’s life, and no appreciation for how much could be done to make things easier.

Photo of Nat Lim
Nat Lim@littlemissmaudlin
5 stars
Dec 28, 2021

Highlights

Photo of Katy Watkins
Katy Watkins@katy

‘Why had all the doctors told me that I was losing my hearing, and not a single one had told me that I was gaining my deafness?’ asked Aaron Williamson, the English performance artist who coined the phrase.

Deaf Gain suggests that there are benefits to being deaf, for both individuals and society. The word ‘gain’ is round and pert with possibility—profit, growth, yield, boost—dazzling with the promise of community, language and art, shared experiences that mean not having to explain or justify one's body.

Page 255
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Katy Watkins@katy

People born with disabilities may need to undergo a process of ‘becoming disabled’ — that is, learning to live in your body as it is, rather than how it is measured by society.

Page 216
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Katy Watkins@katy

The overlooking of disabled bodies is so consistent, so rampant worldwide, that the United Nations has created a checklist for parliamentarians: ‘Why I should be interested in the rights of persons with disabilities.’ Each of the six dot points is a rallying cry of common sense, unfortunately not yet common enough to go unstated. The list begins: ‘The human rights of persons with disabilities should be promoted for the same reason that human rights are promoted for all other people: because of the inherent and equal dignity and worth of each human being.’

I laugh bitterly about the checklist with another disabled friend, whom I had met in a creative-writing workshop. We trade stories about how we cope, the ways in which we find ourselves backed into corners or avoiding, avoiding, avoiding the places that cause us to ache. Others, with able bodies, experience the world in seamless ways, entering and exiting buildings without friction or calculation, because parks and schools and workplaces and homes, and even our Parliament House, have been designed for their bodies only. We know just how necessary that checklist is.

Page 194
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Katy Watkins@katy

Deafness is only measured in decibels. Yet these numbers don’t take into consideration the complexity that is involved in conversations. Until there is an understanding that communication is a collective responsibility, it seems unlikely, even impossible, that the stigmatisation of deaf people will dissipate.