Asl - a Loss for Words Reflection Paper

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During the time they lived not much was accessible for deaf people, so it was a daily challenge. That’s why I have so much respect for Lou Ann’s Deaf parents. That they never gave up. They worked normal jobs, just like hearing people. They raised three beautiful children. One that attended Harvard. They had so much dedication and strive to do right by their family and never let their disability get in the way. They found ways to communicate and weren’t afraid to ask for help when needed.

In A Loss for Words Lou Ann asked her mother to go to a teacher’s day at school. Her mother didn’t like to go out in socialize because majority of people didn’t know how to communicate with her. But her mother knew how greatly it would mean to Lou Ann so she went. The school didn’t treat her mother like a guest at all. The teacher wouldn’t even let Lou Ann translate for her during class. To me this shows so much sacrifice in their family. Her mother went into an uncomfortable situation and took being treated poorly for her daughter. Just like how Lou Ann would sacrifice her role as a child to help her parents out. You just knew how very proud of her, her parents must have been.

A Loss for Words really made me think about all I have in life and how I take even the simplest things for granted. It showed me how a family can get through just about everything together. And how strong love really can be for one another. This book really allowed many of the characters personal feelings to show and how relatable it can be to so many aspects of life. I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was very touching. This family’s story shows how communication was never taken for granted in their home. American Sign Language is its own beautiful language that has given so many people the ability to have normal lives and communicate. After reading this book I look at deaf people with so much greater respect now. This book showed me the most over everything that happiness comes to all the work for it and appreciate the little things in life, just like Lou Ann’s parents did.