Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History (Chicago Visions and Revisions)

A most enjoyable and informative perspective on deafness and deafness cures, with wonderful insight into the history of medical devices and medical fraud. The book changed my perspective on deafness and the need to "cure" disabilities. The author, who lost her hearing as a child (this is discussed in the book at length so I'm not telling any secrets) has a deep personal connection to the subject, which greatly enhances the value and impact of this lovely book. Great illustrations add historical eye candy as well.

Book in arrived fast and in great condition. It will be added to my classroom material for an ASL class.

I have a BA in history and I have been hard of hearing my entire life, so I was really excited to get this book in my hands! I am half way through the book and I am going to put it on my shelf to collect dust. Although the book is heavily researched, it is almost too much so. Remember when your history professor told you to keep your research concise and add extra information in the end or foot notes? That’s what the author should have done. I lost focus reading this book because it is not well organized and the information seems very redundant. The author also includes sections of autobiographical information which seems inappropriate for historical research. More photos of artifacts would also be nice to see. I may give it another go later, but not sure.

Interesting book

This book provides a history of attempts to cure or treat deafness, juxtaposed as it is with the writer’s own experience of being deaf and being subject to contemporary interventions. It is a beautifully written book. It is easy to read and its story is compelling as it is challenging. While it can be read quickly, it is also worth taking your time with it.The book opens by asking why it is that our society considers poor hearing—or no hearing—to be so unacceptable, or at least tragic. In turn it recounts, event after event over time, a history of fraudulent, fake or naively aspirational attempts to treat or cure deafness with treatments, fixes, technologies and surgeries that never offered a guarantee of success. The writer is measured and objective in her work - she doesn’t cast judgment on the events which have occurred. Rather she lets them hang from the page as though asking you - do you think doing this to a person is OK?It is difficult to know what is worse, that people have tried these various things on deaf and hearing impaired people, or that as a society we seem to think deafness is such “problem” in so dire need of a solution’ that it is OK to try or do anything to rid us of it? Over time people must have thought such things were OK to do because this book details a history of vulnerable people constantly finding themselves in the clutches of charlatans, sales people and experimenters. It provides a deep of insight into the everyday experience of so many people, across time and space. It will make you say OUCH!It is also both a compelling and a very concerning read as it brings out the need for greatly improved governance in hearing services including recognising the problem of people offering developmental approaches as successful treatments (i.e. research or product development as therapy), the over promising/under delivering of technology and the sustained stigmatisation of deafness in advertising. Perhaps what is most concerning is that the practices detailed in this history, continue today. A recent government inquiry into the hearing aid industry in Australia warned consumers that hearing aid dealers were not health care providers, but simply businesses selling products and as such, should be approached as such.If there was ever a call for a rights-based approach to hearing services, the evidence base for such a call is collated within this work. It is an even more important book because it is presented by a person who’s walking the talk as it were. While people in the signing world of Deaf Culture have long stood up for their rights to be Deaf and to communicate using modes which work for them and their culture, few people who live as deaf people in the hearing world have posed significant challenges to the otological/audiological establishment. This book does this, but not in a confronting way. As noted, it simply documents the the history, in a very readable way and leaves it to you, the reader to ask whether what has happened here is OK? And indeed, is it time to bring a halt to the exploitation of yet another vulnerable group in our community.I think this book will validate a lot of what people, who’ve been subject to these various treatments and limited technologies, have been through. It will resonant with people, and possibly galvanise them into some action against the systemic nature of the excesses and the endless stigmatisation of deafness.

"For years, I was stuck in limbo between two worlds: never quite deaf enough or quite hearing enough to perfectly fit in one side or another." Jaipreet Virdi, author of Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History, captures her struggles after meningitis robbed her of her hearing at the age of four while living in Kuwait with her Sikh parents.Virdi intersperses her story within a well-researched and informative history of the treatments and "cures" for deafness since 1860. As a historian, the author culled collections, libraries, archives, and museums to document the trail of trends and remedies for patients seeking a miracle or assistance for their affliction. Treatments ranged from puncturing the eardrum to Muncie's non-invasive finger surgery, designed to correct tubal irregularities. I learned more about ear anatomy and functions from reading this book than in any biology class.Virdi included personal stories of people who were impacted from the procedures many hoped would end their deafness. She also highlighted the fraudulent practices and emphasized the sheer desperation victims suffered when most of the assured procedures failed to deliver. I appreciated all the advertisements, reflecting the advances in hearing aids. From ear trumpets to portable battery packs, scientists and salesmen sought to alleviate the silence.It is also a study in scientific development for hearing devices, their advances and ingenuity in design and comfort. Virdi discusses her own resistance to upgrading her hearing aids. She was comfortable with one particular style, after experimenting with many. However, she was forced to switch over to digital hearing aids when her analog model was discontinued. While the new technology enhanced her hearing, it also brought on torturous migraines as her body acclimated to digitized devices.Virdi's book offers an educational and personal exploration of the cultural history for treatment of deafness. She provides an engrossing examination of the remedies and ministrations that display the spectrum of diversity within the deaf community. Virdi's research proffers a strong voice for every person who is impacted by the inability to hear.This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Janilyn Kocher.

This scholarly review details the colorful ways that charlatans (and sometimes physicians) offered false hope to desperate people with hearing problems. It also expresses how the author feels about public attitudes toward deafness—ideas that those who work with hearing-impaired children should consider.

Envio dentro do prazo, em perfeito estado.

This book offers a fascinating insight into the history of how deaf people have been exploited with all sorts of quack solutions and remedies up to recent times. For the history, it is essential reading. Unfortunately, when we get to the final chapter, the author leaves accuracy behind, revealing a depressingly prejudiced and unhelpful view of cochlear implants. For example: "CIs, however, do not replicate the natural sense of sound. If anything, they are tools to help the deaf person navigate their surroundings and discern between different sound sources while learning speech."? They do 1000 times more than that for me! If ever the author gets CI for herself, I believe she will look back at that chapter and squirm. For a book that describes how deaf people have been fooled and tricked for centuries, it's hypocritical that the final chapter effectively gives similar misinformation to that which the rest of the book criticises.