Customer Reviews

Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard

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This is one of my favorite books of all time. Originally written as an ethnographic study, it is also completely readable for a non-professional popular audience. Basically, it is the story of the islanders of Martha's Vineyard, a large island off the coast of Massachusetts. The islanders originally came from the same 2 or 3 boatloads of colonists from England, by way of Boston and Scituate, from a region in Kent which already seems to have had a high incidence of hereditary deafness. Due to the geographic isolation of the island, recessive genes for deafness, which were already prominent in the original Kentish colonists, came increasingly to the fore. As the proportions of islanders who happened to be deaf gradually increased, what was the islanders' answer? Not shunning the deaf. Far from it. Rather, a tradition arose that EVERYONE on the island, deaf or hearing, simply learned sign language as children!

This book is full of fascinating little anecdotes, about how island society worked to include its deaf members. For example, we learn about families and friends, some deaf and some hearing, who would regularly sit next to each other in church. The hearing members would sign the sermons to their deaf friends. Or, sometimes groups of people who could hear perfectly well might be together, for whatever reason, and they might happen to converse by signing just as much as in spoken English. Everyone spoke both languages.

Some of my favorite parts of the book focus on the benefits of signing. For example, perhaps two neighbors wanted to converse, while being separated by 200 yards of noisy space, made vocally impenetrable by sounds of surf and sea. Whether they were deaf or hearing, they could get out their spyglasses (this was a 19th century whaling community, where spyglasses were in every household) and sign to each other across the distance while viewing each other through the magnification afforded by the spyglasses. One entertaining anecdote tells of two young men, who could hear perfectly well, who would use their signing ability to pick up girls off-island. They would pique the girls' interest in them by signing amongst themselves, and would claim that one of them was deaf. After they had secured the girls' interest, they would put on a lengthy, well-practiced charade of deafness to keep the gils curious about them. Do they ever let on that they can really hear? You'll have to read the book to find out! Bwa ha ha haaaa ( that's the sound of an evil laugh).

Those are a few minor anecdotes. The whole book is packed with stories like that, and it's endlessly amazing. The last couple of chapters make excellent, general points about the human issues raised in the book, and about how we as a society think about the "handicapped" -- perhaps, as Dr. Groce points out, we should not use the term in the first place.

Anyway, I'm really pleased to call attention to this book. I wish it were more widely known. If you're reading this because you linked to my reviewer's page from my review of "Jeepers Creepers," or something at a similar level, then, well, I'm just happy you're reading about this valuable story as well as "Jeepers Creepers." Two thumbs up.

Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language is a wonderful look at the Deaf population on Martha's Vineyard and the extent to which it was integrated with the Hearing community. Groce's research is supurb and she draws interesting and relevant conclusions. I highly recommend this book to anyone studying ASL/Deaf Studies or someone who is just interested in the topic.

"Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language" is a look at the effect of a large deaf population on Martha's Vineyard. Though a dry read at times, this book gives an interesting look at how for once in the history of deaf culture the *hearing* adapted for the deaf instead of vice versa. While most people might assume that the large deaf population would force a hefty amount of deaf people to adapt to hearing life, the opposite was actually true; the brilliance of Martha's Vineyard was that nearly all hearing people knew sign language to some degree.

The book analyses cultural impact of the large deaf population within the Vineyard's communities, which was biologically caused by the genetic predisposition for deafness. The book, largely written like an anthropological study, focuses on both physical and cultural aspect of the deafness in the communities. However, the most interesting implications within the book are those discussing deaf and hearing interrelations.

This is the right attitude toward the deaf people in Martha's Vineyard back in the 17th and 18th centuries. I only wish it was true in USA and elsewhere today but it isn't.

This book also talk of people that aren't deaf, were using sign language to talk to each other - for example, from one boat to another or from the cliff down to the beach or because the high wind was drowning out their voices. I can think of many examples that people can use sign language today. Scuba diving sign language is so limited so why not use ASL? A person can tell a minister of an emergency problem quickly from the back of the church without having to go up to whisper in his ear. One could 'talk' to another person in the next building without opening windows. (Windows can't be opened in some office buildings) I could go on and on.

Today, parents are using sign language with their babies (not deaf). Some researchers are saying that it enhances language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. However, I am sure that at the same time, there are some parents of deaf babies, are being told not to use sign language. There are few schools that are pro-oral. Those deaf babies need sign language even more. Where are their language and social-emotional development?? This is irony and sharp contrast to this book. This book prove that all deaf babies need to be exposed to sign language everyday by comparing the Vineyard Deaf people to the Mainland Deaf people.

I am keeping this book to show others because it does support my view of point on the education for the deaf.

I read this book a couple of years ago after reading Oliver Sack's book "Seeing Voices". I read many books each year and I must agree with the other readers here in stating that this is one of the books that has stuck with me. The sense of community and integration encountered by the deaf people on Martha's Vineyard are truley lessons to us all on acceptance and normal treatment of disabilities. I only wish it had a follow up edition.

There are about 10 books I've read in my life that are vivid years later. This is one of those. We're given the chance to see what it might be like to live in a place without prejudices about people being different because of something like deafness. I learned a tremendous amount about deafness, sign language, and life on a New England fishing island community in bygone years. Don't miss this wonderful book.

I bought the book because I found out my great grandparents were deaf and that my great grandmother was from Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard. The book was very interesting although I didn't learn much about my particular relatives.

I am a direct descendant of Jonathan Lambert and that is why I ordered a copy of this book. It is so exciting to read excerpts about my paternal grandmother's ancestors. My grandmothers maiden name was indeed "Lambert". She married a Burnett, which was my maiden name. She had given me geneology of her family before she died that dates back to approximaely 1581 around the time when Thomas Lambert was born. He,his wife and 3 children sailed on the Mary and John ship to Mass. in 1630. They boarded the ship in Dorchester, England I believe. They were from the Weald of Kent area. Thomas had a son named Joshua who married Abigail Linnell and had an inn on Cape Cod, Barnstable, Mass. Joshua and Abigail's son was Jonathan who moved to Martha's Vineyard and married Elizabeth Eddy. I loved reading about life on the Vineyard and hope to go there one day. I think this book would be fascinating for anyone.

This was a great book! While taking an ASL class, I ran across this book. It was very educational as to the deaf of Martha's Vineyard, how they arrived there, and the culture they carved while there. No longer a presence on the island, it was very interesting to see the interaction of the deaf with the hearing and to see the acceptance of the deaf by the hearing. The interviews of island residents were fascinating. Great book - highly recommended!

An extraordinary presentation of how indidivuals with significant hearing deficits on a genetic basis were accepted and integrated into the community of Martha's Vineyard for many generations. It interesting to discover that many of the original settlers in Martha's Vineyard in colonial times had significant auditory deafness due to hereditary factors . They and their decendants many of whom were deaf became vitally important members of the community .