Summary Of A Loss For Words By Lou Ann Walker

A Loss for Words is narrated by Lou Ann Walker. From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker was the ears and voice for her deaf parents. Through the narration of this book, she recounts the stories about her growing up with two deaf parents. "To the hearing world the deaf community must seem like a secret society. Indeed, deafness is a culture every bit as distinctive as any an anthropologist might study." (pg.22). The journey of this secret society for her and her parents begins as her parents are driving her to Harvard. She went to Ball State for her first two years but decided it was not enough of a challenge, and she needed somewhat of a change in her life. Growing up with two deaf parents was not always a smooth ride. She also felt like an outsider from society. She had to grow up rather quickly, having to act as her parents ' translator and go-between in everything from finances to dealing with car mechanics and doctors.
Through commitment, love, and dedication she wholeheartedly gives her parents the best life possible even without the ears to hear; we evidently see this throughout the journey of her storytelling. This first
She was basically responsible for dealing with the outside world for her parents. She wrote their letters, she made their phone calls, she ordered for them at restaurants, and she talked to the people at the bank. "The best that can be said for deafness is that it 's an invisible handicap. The worst, that it puts adults at the mercy of their hearing children, at the mercy of parents, at almost anyone 's mercy. It is one of the cruelest and most deceptive of afflictions." (pg2). Her parents didn’t like having to ask her to do these things, but it was a necessity. Lou Ann felt a lot of pressure to be grown up and the adults in her life, except for her parents were always telling her to be a “good” girl. There seems to be a lot of guilt that her grandparents have passed down to