16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Childish Diatribe Against the Deaf Community, November 26, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Paperback)
I came to read this book as a student of American Sign Language (ASL). I wanted to see the negative side of the Deaf community. I did not find it here.
This book is filled with inconsistency and irrational hatred of the Deaf community. I expected a reasoned critique, but all I found was immature and poorly thought out backstabbing of a community.
Like other reviewers I found gapping lapses of logic. Beyond the claims of bigotry and sexism in the Deaf community (I can find all of this in any public school or PTA meeting), Bertling picks and chooses his assessment of the Deaf community to fit his needs. On page 35 he derides the Deaf community for attempting to get a Deaf superintendent for the first time at his school (an unnamed deaf residential school) and then on page 37 he claims that the Deaf community is resistant to change! It seems he only counts changes that reflect his dislike of Deaf people in positions of power.
And his take on ASL betrays bigotry and ignorance. He claims that deafness has the tragic result of "difficulty [in] obtaining a language" (pg 31). He seems to ignore the fact that ASL is a language. This is either a mistake, or just another part of his puzzling attempt to dismantle the progress in Deaf education in the past 30 years.
The fact that the book is only 108 pages long comes as a relief. It would be difficult to read more of this irrational dismissal of a cultural community.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Need to get out of smoke, May 22, 2000
This review is from: A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Paperback)
As a graduate of a residential school, I have to admit that I agree with him in some ways, but most of information is focused only on his experience. This doesn't mean to reflect to everyone. I loved living in a dormitory during all my childhood years (12 years) because I have a lot of good memories. And I still love my old school. Anyway, I happen to meet the author's friends who attended the residential school where he graduated from. Almost all of them were happy to graduate from this school, but they said the only one thing that they were not satisfied is the Deaf education that they received because it could not provide more what the public schools in general provided for hearing students. The author failed to desrcibe why the Deaf education went wrong? He should have explained the communication barrier/breakdown between deaf students and teachers in classrooms, which is very common. He could have explained comparision with his residential school to other residential schools in a nation. He failed to explain an issue of Deaf/Hearing, which is very common in the past. Historically many deaf students and staff have been oppressed and deprived. Overall, this book is based on his opinion, experience and perspective. And it blends with some facts, some misinformation, some true, some myths and some exaggeration. The author could have give more positive information about his school, but he did not choose to. Again, it doesnt mean to relfect to everyone and to every residential school in our country.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A work of resentment, April 1, 2000
This review is from: A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture (Paperback)
A Child Sacrificed to the Deaf Culture, by Tom Bertling, is a poorly written account of the life of the author, and the conclusions he has derived from his own experiences in as a student at a residential school for the Deaf. Bertling relates isolated instances from his experiences to justify his contempt and resentment for all residential schools for the Deaf and for Deaf culture. This controversial book is none other than a grown man's childish retribution for the negative experiences of his childhood.
When Bertling was 10 years old, he was placed in a residential school for the Deaf, despite his normal speech and satisfactory academic progress in the public school system. He does not consider himself deaf, but instead, hard or hearing and disabled. In addition, this particular school seems to have been staffed by less than competent teachers, administrators, and other personnel. Due to the poor decision of his parents and the incompetent faculty and staff, the resentful Bertling makes the widespread assumption that all students at all Deaf schools are mistreated victims of the supposed "leaders" of the Deaf community.
Bertling goes on to retaliate by ridiculing Deaf culture, Deaf "leaders," and even American Sign Language. He states, "ASL...is English broken down into its simplistic form. It is mostly graphic in form and easily learned, especially for the uneducated or without language formation" (p33). In this, Bertling is clearly erroneous, as proven by such experts as William Stokoe, who researched Sign and delineated the 4 (sometimes 5) parameters of a sign. Throughout the book, Bertling provided anecdotes, attempting to isolate universal problems as shortcomings exclusive of Deaf community. For example, he tells of discrimination and harassment of gay students, hazing among older students, the "prevalence of gossip" (p93), and the fear of humiliation amongst rape victims. He fails to note that these problems are widespread in all of society, not restricted to Deaf community. Bertling also accuses individuals in the Deaf community of not taking responsibility for their actions, all the while absolving them of said responsibility by placing blame on the "leaders" of the community.
A Child Sacrificed is a work of resentment, written as retribution for wrongs that the author erroneously blames on Deaf culture and community in general. Bertling hints his motive for this book in an anecdote about his refusal to apply to Gallaudet University. He states that many teachers and members of the dorm staff ridiculed him for his decision. He writes, "Little did these people know that they had sowed the seeds of anger that would eventually grow into this book, returning to haunt them for their past misdeeds" (p44). Perhaps it would be best if the author sought psychological counseling to overcome the experiences of his youth, enabling him to take a more objective view of the community he intends to malign.
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