July 2025 Book Club Summary for “In Silence”

• Synopsis: “As a hearing child of deaf parents, Ruth Sidransky learned signing as her first language. Only when she entered school did she master speech. She was placed in a class for children with intellectual disabilities until her parents intervened. The richness of her experiences, surrounded by a loving family in a close-knit neighborhood in New York, helped to ease her transfer to the hearing world.” Published in 1990.
• She lived July 1, 1929 – October 7, 2017 (her obituary)
• A brief Wikipedia entry on Ruth
• Her published books: (linked to the Amazon page for ease)
• Video of Ruth talking about her books from her YouTube page.
• A 10 minute interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Ruth Sidransky when the book came out (October 1990).
• A good resource of various Child of Deaf Adults (CODA) resources and books: KODAheart

• Critical Reception of Book:
  • Reader reviews (on GoodReads, average rating of 4.01)
  • Professional Reviewer Reviews:
    • New York Times (1990)

• • • Los Angeles Times (1990)
    • Jewish Exponent (1991)

Themes Discussed:

• Deafness Experiences and Family Dynamics: The group observed that Ruth’s mother struggled emotionally with her deafness, while her father seemed to accept it more positively.
• ASL vs. Spoken English Differences: The group discussed the differences between American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English, particularly focusing on how abstract thoughts are conveyed. This blog illustrates the differences between ASL and spoken English. Ade explained that ASL often requires facial expressions and body language, which can be challenging for deaf-blind individuals (American Association of the DeafBlind).
• Audiobook discussion and where to find the book: The group discussed the audiobook version of a book, with Laura and Ade praising the narrator’s performance, particularly in portraying ASL dialogue. The only audiobook recording I was finding was the Braille Audio Reading Download (BARD) version. You need to qualify for BARD (find out more here).

  • Links of places I have found this book:

    1. Amazon: Paperback ($7.28) / Hardcover ($17.99)
    2. Gallaudet University Press: Paper ($29.95) / PDF ($29.95) / Rent PDF for 90 days ($14.98)
    3. eBay: Hardcover (used from $5.99 – $6.29 and new $15.44)
    4. Abe Books: Hardcover (Used, $12.85) / (New, $12.65)
• Disability Advocacy and Identity Challenges: The conversation explored themes of identity, advocacy, and the challenges of navigating societal perceptions of disability.
• Additional Topics Discussed:
  • • Book club member Ade highly recommended reading the epilogue if you haven’t. Ruth ruminates about the strength and power of hands in her life in relation to language (ASL), etc.
    • The Blarney Stone and the lore behind it is mentioned in relation to voice
    • Deaf voice is discussed frequently by Ruth. Her parents were often misunderstood because of their mispronunciation of words (which Ruth wrote about excellently). I found several great articles about the “deaf voice” and “deaf pronunciation.” (Los Angeles Times 1988 article: “Deaf Gain New Voice”); (National Association of the Deaf- NAD)
    • Silence and what it means to Ruth in various parts of the book.
    • The group noticed that Ruth’s brother was not mentioned very often. Why? I didn’t find the answer but it could just be related to how she chose to write the memoir in that she focused on HER experience with her parents.

Again, thank you for joining us and we hope you’re able to join us in August.