A review by kali
Hearing Maud: A Journey for a Voice by Jessica White

5.0

Deeply personal, entwined with Jessica White's discovery of Rosa Praed's writing and her deaf daughter Maud who was raised to 'fit in' with the mainstream, to lipread rather than sign. White finds parallels with her own upbringing and the expectations placed on her, with the result of a profound loneliness and exclusion from social life. I know Jessica in real life, but READING her is really LISTENING to her, and she makes a strong case for the power of words, writing, and the ability to express oneself. I reflected on children and adults with Autism, who I think face similar issues of invisible disabilities and inability to be heard and express themselves, to learn the rules that people around them seem to inherently understand, and the need to mask or pretend to 'normalcy' to get by.