Marsha R. (HomeschoolMama) reviewed Orchid of the Bayou: A Deaf Woman Faces Blindness on + 68 more book reviews
a very interesting peek into the life of a deaf lady and the world of the deaf.
Kitty Fischer was born into Louisiana Cajun culture, and--though loved--was exposed to a lot of prejudice and misery as a child. She was "deaf and dumb" and branded mentally deficient by a doctor. At the age of six, she entered a school for the deaf and learned language and could enjoy playing with other children for the first time. Later she attended Gallaudet University, had a job, and married. After the birth of her first child, however, she suffered increasingly from tunnel vision, and it was found that she had an incurable condition that would rob her of her sight eventually. An interesting and inspiring book about an unusual person. Since I have profoundly deaf twin cousins in their late forties and studied American sign language myself for a year, I especially enjoyed the glimpses the book affords into the world of the deaf, but I wish it contained more about Fischer's later life.
