The Silence Between Us

Preface to my review: I am hearing. I have a few Deaf/HoH friends and know a little ASL (a few signs beyond fingerspelling, plus some spatial grammar). Most of what I know about Deaf culture and d/Deaf history is through the aforementioned friends.

I really enjoyed this book a lot, and learned new things about how to better advocate for d/Deaf folks. I didn't know, for instance, about virtual remote interpretation in hospitals. There is a big overlap between audism and discrimination against autism. I related very strongly to Maya's initial apprehension and suspicion of Beau for using ASL with her—it is not unlike when a neurotypical person immediately starts telling me about their autistic relative, upon learning I'm autistic.

The scenes where Beau screws up a sign are amusing. There were no instances of him messing up spatial grammar or facial expressions, but that also could have been a source of humor.

The part where Maya yells “Did you not know that the disabled chick can lipread?” kind of handled the deaf/disabled distinction in a way that a disabled reader might see as offensive or confusing. Perhaps in future editions, the author's note can include some discussion of why many deaf people do not consider being deaf to be a disability, and why that in itself is not something that devalues disability.

I appreciated the author's note, especially regarding cochlear implants. I already knew a lot from my friends (one of whom got a CI as a teen, as his own choice), and it's deepened my understanding of the topic. The topic of cochlear implants among d/Deaf people is not unlike the topic of ABA among autistic people: very controversial, can be used as a means to separate someone from a Deaf/autistic community, and involves serious issues of informed consent.