Written by a therapist, Michael A. Harvey, Ph.D, this book manages to cover virtually every type of person who has hearing loss. It should be read by everyone who has a hearing loss, or who has a family member with hearing loss. I was totally engrossed, reading through the stories of real people (names changed of course) and their emotions and learning how they were able to deal with them. I found one person I could identify with, and everyone who reads it will find someone to identify with.
Experienced Psychologist
According to the dust jacket, Harvey has authored two books on psychotherapy with deaf people, and is today a clinical psychologist practicing privately in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Real People
Some of the people Harvey works with are:
- Sue, a HOH (hard of hearing) woman disconnected from her parents.
- Teenaged, HOH Mary, torn between the deaf world and the hearing world. I too experienced that ambivalence when I was younger.
- Norma, an older woman losing her hearing who did not want to wear her hearing aids.
- Culturally deaf, deaf Ann, who felt oppressed.
- Donna, who was having difficulty accepting her hearing loss.
Sometimes Technical
From a deaf person struggling to cope with working in a hearing world to a hard of hearing man suffering from intense tinnitus, I was enthralled and educated by each chapter. If the book had any flaws, it was that it at times became a little "technical" in its approach to its subject matter. But, after all, it was written by a professional therapist. In each chapter, Harvey shares his own thoughts and shortcomings as he learns to deal with each client's needs. Each chapter ends with a short bibliography.
Final Thoughts
People with hearing loss who read this book definitely will come away with the knowledge that they are not alone. Anyone who is researching the psychological aspects of deafness and hearing loss must read this book.
