A Man Without Words.

Susan Schaller

University of California Press, 1991 - Social Science - 204 pages

For more than a quarter of a century, Ildefonso, a Mexican Indian, lived in total isolation, set apart from the rest of the world. He wasn't a political prisoner or a social recluse, he was simply born deaf and had never been taught even the most basic language. Susan Schaller, then a twenty-four-year-old graduate student, encountered him in a class for the deaf where she had been sent as an interpreter and where he sat isolated, since he knew no sign language. She found him obviously intelligent and sharply observant but unable to communicate, and she felt compelled to bring him to a comprehension of words.
A Man without Words vividly conveys the challenge, the frustrations, and the exhilaration of opening the mind of a congenitally deaf person to the concept of language.

What people are saying

Review: A Man Without Words

User Review - Goodreads

WHAT I LIKED: The concept behind the story is fascinating. The author finds a 27-year-old man who hadn't ever learned a formal language. She discussed how she taught him language and the moment ...

Review: A Man Without Words

User Review  - Ashlee - Goodreads

Fascinating read and eye-opener about the reality of the deaf community and growing up without an L1; for linguists a must-read.

Contents

• Section 1: 21
• Section 2: 29
• Section 3: 46
• Section 4: 58
• Section 5: 67
• Section 6: 76
• Section 7: 83
• Section 8: 92
• Section 9: 102
• Section 10: 114
• Section 11: 116
• Section 12: 125
• Section 13: 132
• Section 14: 148
• Section 15: 158
• Section 16: 167
• Section 17: 181
• Section 18: 189

About the author

Susan Schaller is a teacher of American Sign Language affiliated with the World Federation of the Deaf and the founder of In the Name of Deaf Adults (NaDA).

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Man Without Words.
• Author: Susan Schaller
• Contributor: Oliver W. Sacks
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: University of California Press, 1991
• ISBN: 0520202651, 9780520202658
• Length: 204 pages
• Subjects: Education / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General; Social Science / Anthropology / General