The Mask of Benevolence. Disabling the Deaf Community

Customer Reviews

The Book That Saved My Deaf Son's Life

2006-01-13
It was a long time ago...perhaps 15 years. My kid had been diagnosed as Deaf or "deaf" by the hearing community with a small "d." In those days, parents (especially a hearing parent like myself) had no options. Technology for "aided" hearing in all forms was the rage. ASL was not allowed even in the "deaf" school he attended. But my son could hear nothing even with powerful hearing aids. So, for me, a NJ criminal appellate attorney (for 20 yrs), I wanted facts-not-fluff. Dr. Lane's book in Hardcover was released in 1992. When I read the review in the NY Times Sunday Book Review section, I could not drive fast enough to get a copy. Holed up for a day, I read it front to back. And then I knew. No. My vocation was not going to be a criminal attorney, I needed to become an advocate or "the law firm" for one - my own kid. And we needed to move out of NJ so good-bye law practice and the money. Had it not been for this book, though, he would not be graduating to attend a great college next year. Please buy this book. Please do not let "them" tell you it is "radical." Go for it. I beg you....

Mostly negative tone, thought-provoking content.

2002-12-12
I found this book to be engaging almost from the beginning; it is meticulously researched, well organized, logical, yet passionate in its defense of an oppressed language minority. One could certainly argue that Mr. Lane short-changes his opponents by not really addressing their arguments on the benefits of mainstreaming Deaf children, but the purpose of this book is not to present both sides of the issues; the purpose is to demonstrate the oppression of the Deaf language and therefore their culture. It provides strong evidence that the Deaf child is a minority, not an invalid, and that the tendency of hearing parents to see mainstreaming as the only option is a dangerous mistake. This is deep reading and scholarly writing, at times to the point of near inaccessibility to a mainstream audience. However, it is convincing and eye-opening if one is willing to put the effort into reading it.

Sadly, the reader from New Jersey seems to have missed the point of this book. By condemning Mr. Lane as refusing to "recognize that different lifestyles are better for different people," he fails to see that Mr. Lane defends the Deaf as a different lifestyle that deserves to be recognized! This book is not saying that no Deaf (especially late-deafened adults) should try to learn lip-reading or consider cochlear implants. It is simply saying that those Deaf who wish to take part in Deaf culture, who wish to be Deaf, should be given that option as well.

Excellent and thought-provoking 2001-07-20
Harlan Lane shows how Deafness is a cultural affiliation and only through the hearing world's oppression does it become a disability. Very well-written and researched, Lane digs deep into the Deaf culture and history to bring us this excellent resource. I believe that anyone saying that this work is biased and obsolete holds biased and obsolete viewpoints themselves. Come into this with an open mind, and you will leave a better person. Highly recommended!

Obsolete and Biased viewpoint 2001-05-11
This book is biased, not up to date in it's views of oral-deaf education, and outright offensive to those in the Deaf community who chose to use technology to be able to hear and speak. Yes, some deaf people DO want to be able to hear! Is that so surprising? Harlan Lane is an extremist who refuses to recognize that different lifestyle choices are better for different people. The audist and oral-deaf education community are supportive of and unopposed to sign language and Deaf culture. However, they also believe that if one's choice is to live in the hearing world, one should be afforded the opportunity to do so. Today's technologies of advanced hearing aids and cochlear implants, combined with modern education and therapy techniques make this opportunity available to the majority of deaf persons, particularly young children. The oral-deaf education community recognizes that ASL may still be the choice of many, and has no wish to damage or eliminate deaf culture. Why then does Harlan Lane refuse to similarly acknowledge in this book the fact that hearing aids and cochlear implants do work, and deaf children (and adults) can and do learn to hear and speak very well by using them? What is wrong with that if that is someone's choice, or if that is the choice of the hearing parents of a deaf child?

Mask of Benevolence by Harlan Lane 2000-05-24
This book written by Dr. Harlan Lane is more that profound. It has the power to solidify any HOH or Oral Deaf persons identity. His book is written as he sees the world though a Deaf persons struggle in a hearing world and goes well beyond to explain what it is really like to be Deaf. I highly recomend this book for everyone.