Niki Brown
Randi Nedom
ASL 1
11/21/11
Loss for Words Paper The book A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker is a biography about Lou Ann. Her parents are deaf and she and her sister are hearing. The book describes the troubles and embarrassment she felt and had while growing up. She loved her parents dearly but often felt embarrassed, or infuriated about comments people would make to her about her parents. Lou Ann exclaims that “their world is deaf, their deaf culture, their deaf friends, and their own sign language it is something separate, something I can never really know, but I am intimate with.”(2) Lou Ann was both speaking and she could also sign. She felt it hard to fit into one culture. She had a love for her parents and the
I feel that Lou Ann didn’t want so much responsibility. She really did a great job though you could tell that she really cared for her parents. I also feel that she just wanted to be independent from them. I can relate, but on a different level. It is almost like having a baby that you have to care for except her baby never grew up. I have a daughter who I have to help every day, even if I don’t want to that’s my job. Some days are easier than other but in the end you are always glad to help. Lou Ann also did not know where she fit in. She fit in with both the deaf and hearing culture. She loved both of them and often tried to bring the two together. Lou Ann soon realized that it could never work. I think she noticed this most when she was dating Dave. Lou Ann stated “Why can’t you be polite to my parents?” (121) She did not understand why Dave could not communicate with her parents and love her parents just the way she did. Lou Ann began to see and stated “how unusual my family was, how difficult we were to break into.” (121) She really began to see how she didn’t really fit into any culture but almost had her own because she was so in touch with the deaf culture, but also was active in the hearing culture. It is almost as if she had to choose between one or the other. She didn’t want to do this because she loved the deaf culture just as much as the hearing. Back then there were a lot of stereotypes of deaf people that were not true. People did not know