Silence, Love and the Kids We Know

We as humans get so consumed in ourselves and our everyday lives that we tend to overlook what others may be struggling with inside. Hearing loss can stir up some pretty strong feelings of loneliness and abandonment from the hearing and speaking culture.

"Silence, Love and Kids I Know" by Linwood Smith is a small collection of poetry bringing to life some of the heart-wrenching feelings and emotions many children of the deaf community experience. Linwood Smith (1943-1982) who became deaf by the age of two was a teacher and counselor for children of the deaf community. This book of poetry focused on the feelings and emotions of the children he had known and taught.

Several of the poems were expressing the hardships deaf people experience when trying to express themselves to people of the hearing world. For example, "and cannot understand the foreign language of my hands". Many of these poems also mentioned emotions of love and friendship by deaf children. These children's feelings are no different than that of the hearing culture.

People of the deaf culture don't look at deafness as a disability or as impairment but as a medical condition of being unable to hear. Deaf people are able to communicate with other deaf people beautifully, but run into challenges when communicating with the hearing world. This community shares a common sense of pride within their Culture and language.

After reading this book, I have come to conclude that many of these children experience similar hardships in their lives as the hearing culture does, and are unable to express their feelings easily. Therefore, I believe that much of the deaf culture look for alternative venting outlets such as poetry and writing. I would suggest anyone read this book that enjoys poetry or are interested in the deaf culture.