Words in My Hands: A Teacher, a Deaf-Blind Man, an Unforgettable Journey
When I agreed to read and review Ms. Chambers' book, I expected something like Tuesdays With Morrie. A little volume of reminiscences, celebrating the precious frailty of life and the human spirit, blah blah blah. Mea Culpa, I know, but that s what I expected. What I got was, indeed, all that, and a whole lot more. Ms. Chambers has woven four stories together into one inspirational book. The first and foremost is, of course, the story of her teacher-student relationship with the 86-year-old deaf-blind Bert Riedel, and her quest to reconnect him to life through signing communication. Fleshing out that narrative is his personal history, gathered from friends and relatives, bringing him alive to us not as a subject but as a human being, surrounded by his own universe of memories and experiences, and with his own particular philosophy of life. The third story is the history of the author and how she came to be an interpreter for the deaf as well as their advocate. And through it all is interwoven the history of the Deaf community, American Sign Language, and the hearing world's perception and treatment of the deaf. These four stories combine to produce many Aha! moments. Ms. Chambers explanation of what obstacles the deaf/blind experience in their everyday lives goes beyond the merely obvious. I have had experience with deaf and blind in my teaching life. I do not consider myself naïve nor insensitive to their problems. Yet over and over again while reading this book, I found myself stopping and saying to myself, I never knew that. I never even thought of that.  Ms. Chambers is a writer. Never pretentious or awkward, her story flows easily towards its inevitable conclusion. A bonus is her footnoted references (which never get in the way of the reading), and her extensive bibliography, which ranges from Erma Bombeck to scholarly dissertations for those inclined to further study.  When I agreed to read Words in My Hands, I expected something like Tuesdays With Morrie. What I didn t expect, but got anyway, was a book I really enjoyed reading, that taught me more than one book should be able to teach me, and, yes, that left me feeling good about the precious frailty of life and the human spirit. It also reminded me of who I am and why I do what I do. That's a lot for a small package. --Robert Hamilton, California Association of Resource Specialists and Special Education Teachers8-19-2005  Words in My Hands is a penetrating look at deaf-blindness and the interpreting issues involved when the condition has its onset in an adult with no previous exposure to sign language. Ms. Chambers, the author, is an experienced interpreter and her book is a valuable contribution to the field of interpreting. It should be a part of every interpreter's professional library and must reading in programs preparing students planning to be interpreters.  The interpreting needs of individuals who are deaf-blind is a neglected but important area. Words in My Hands is a welcome addition to this field. --Dr. McCay Vernon, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, McDaniel College, and Chairperson of the National Deaf Academy Advisory BoardIn this engaging and well written book the author, Diane Chambers, shares with us her six year relationship as a sign language teacher to Bert Riedel, a deaf-blind man who begins his education in the new language at the age of 86. This story about Diane and Bert is merely the vehicle for a much deeper story, one that will resonate with anyone who has ever been misunderstood or worked with those that are challenged in their ability to express themselves. Diane has cleverly used a touching story to educate and engage readers on multiple levels. She has done this skillfully and it s difficult to place a value on whether one level of the story is more important than any other. At its base, this is a story about human communication. As in many areas of daily functional ability, it s not until after loss of a function that we realize how critical it is. While this work focuses on the challenges and rewards of ameliorating the consequences of blindness and deafness, it provides valuable and transferable lessons on any type of communications loss, be it aphasia, mental illness, or anomie. Diane Chambers is hired by Bert s family to teach him sign language after a family acquaintance, another sign language instructor, suggests that this could open up new avenues of communication. Bert is 86 years old and has Usher Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects approximately 40,000 individuals in the United States and is characterized by hearing impairment and a degeneration of the retina. In Bert's case, his vision and hearing loss was gradual and he was able to maintain a professional career and raise his family until he lost the use of these senses in his mid-40s. Bert is remarkable for many reasons, his positive attitude, his wisdom to anticipate the future and his cautious and rather prescient planning once he was diagnosed with the syndrome. When we meet Bert at 86, he is someone who has led a fully engaged life despite his nearly total blindness and deafness for the past 40 years. Sign language is desirable for Bert because it is portable. His only method of communications with others had previously been touch and with a Braille machine, the latter being impractical to carry around. Sign language enabled Bert to communicate with others regardless of his location. At first however was the inevitable question, can an 86 year old man with these multiple sensory deficits learn a new language? The answer we discover is Yes!  One of the most compelling lessons of this book is a basic introduction to deafness, a history of deaf communication, and the field of being an interpreter for the deaf. Diane Chambers is also a teacher and is, in a rather crafty and fun way, promoting her profession. The book is written in story fashion which will engage readers of all ages. While adult readers and helping professionals will enjoy it and get a lot out of it personally, I believe middle school and high school readers will also understand and  become thoroughly engaged by it, many deciding that learning sign language and becoming a certified sign language interpreter is pretty cool. It s this pedagogical thread in the story that makes me believe that Ms. Chambers is as excellent an educator as she is an interpreter. While Bert Riedel is an outlier in many ways; educated, personable, highly motivated, with the cognitive and financial resources beyond that of many his age; the author also describes her other deaf and deaf-blind clients, so that a full range of this community and their challenges are known and their challenges felt.  In a surprising twist towards the end of the book, the author shares with the reader an enormous part of herself and her own personal challenges. Throughout she is able to maintain the inspirational message that she is trying to communicate to the reader... --Dan Smerken, National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, Inside GCM, quarterly, Winter 2007-Spring 2008, Vol. 18, no.4