Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword: Deaf loss / Andrew Solomon -- Deaf gain: an introduction / H-Dirksen L. Bauman and Joseph J. Murray -- Armchairs and stares: on the privation of deafness / Teresa Blankmeyer Burke -- Identifying the "able" in a vari-able world: two lessons / James Tabery -- The case for deaf legal theory through the lens of deaf gain / Alison Bryan and Steve Emery -- Three revolutions: language, culture, and biology / Laura-Ann Petitto -- Deaf gain in evolutionary perspective / David Armstrong -- Deaf gains in the study of bilingualism and bilingual education / Ofelia Garc�ia and Debra Cole -- What we learned from sign languages when we stopped having to defend them / Cindee Calton -- Advantages of learning a signed language / Peter C. Hauser and Geo Kartheiser -- Baby sign as deaf gain / Kristin Snoddon -- Manual signs and gestures of the Inuit of Baffin Island: observations during the three voyages led by Martin Frobisher / Clara Sherley-Appel and John D. Bonvillian -- Bulwer's speaking hands: deafness and rhetoric / Jennifer Nelson -- Seeing the world through deaf eyes / Matthew Dye -- A magic touch: deaf gain and the benefits of tactile sensation / Donna Jo Napoli -- Senses and culture: exploring sensory orientations / Benjamin Bahan -- The deaf gain of Wladislav Zeitlin, Jewish scientist and inventor / Mark Zaurov -- The hidden gain: a new lens of research with d/deaf children and adults / Hilary Sutherland and Katherine D. Rogers -- Deaf gain and shared signing communities / Annelies Kusters -- Gainful employment: historical examples from Akron, Ohio / Kati Morton -- Effective deaf action in the deaf community in Uruguay / Elizabeth M. Lockwood -- Deaf gains in Brazil: linguistic policies and network establishment / Ronice M�uller de Quadros, Karin Strobel, and Mara L�ucia Masutti -- Deaf gain: beyond deaf culture / Irene W. Leigh, Donna A. Morere, and Caroline Kobek Pezzarossi -- Deafspace: an architecture toward a more livable and sustainable world / Hansel Bauman -- Co-design from divergent thinking / Antti Raike, Suvi Pylv�anen, and P�aivi Rain�o -- The hearing line: how literature gains from deaf people / Christopher Krentz -- Deaf music: embodying language and rhythm / Summer Loeffler -- Deaf gain and creativity in signed literature / Rachel Sutton-Spence -- Deaf gain and the creative arts: interviews with deaf artists / Jennifer Grinder Witteborg -- Afterword. Implications of deaf gain: linguistic human rights for deaf citizens / Tove Skutnabb-Kangas.

" Deaf people are usually regarded by the hearing world as having a lack, as missing a sense. Yet a definition of deaf people based on hearing loss obscures a wealth of ways in which societies have benefited from the significant contributions of deaf people. In this bold intervention into ongoing debates about disability and what it means to be human, experts from a variety of disciplines--neuroscience, linguistics, bioethics, history, cultural studies, education, public policy, art, and architecture--advance the concept of Deaf Gain and challenge assumptions about what is normal.Through their in-depth articulation of Deaf Gain, the editors and authors of this pathbreaking volume approach deafness as a distinct way of being in the world, one which opens up perceptions, perspectives, and insights that are less common to the majority of hearing persons. For example, deaf individuals tend to have unique capabilities in spatial and facial recognition, peripheral processing, and the detection of images. And users of sign language, which neuroscientists have shown to be biologically equivalent to speech, contribute toward a robust range of creative expression and understanding. By framing deafness in terms of its intellectual, creative, and cultural benefits, Deaf Gain recognizes physical and cognitive difference as a vital aspect of human diversity.Contributors: David Armstrong; Benjamin Bahan, Gallaudet U; Hansel Bauman, Gallaudet U; John D. Bonvillian, U of Virginia; Alison Bryan; Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Gallaudet U; Cindee Calton; Debra Cole; Matthew Dye, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Steve Emery; Ofelia Garc�ia, CUNY; Peter C. Hauser, Rochester Institute of Technology; Geo Kartheiser; Caroline Kobek Pezzarossi; Christopher Krentz, U of Virginia; Annelies Kusters; Irene W. Leigh, Gallaudet U; Elizabeth M. Lockwood, U of Arizona; Summer Loeffler; Mara L�ucia Massuti, Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Donna A. Morere, Gallaudet U; Kati Morton; Ronice Muller de Quadros, U Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Donna Jo Napoli, Swarthmore College; Jennifer Nelson, Gallaudet U; Laura-Ann Petitto, Gallaudet U; Suvi Pylvanen, Kymenlaakso U of Applied Sciences; Antti Raike, Aalto U; Paivi Rain�o, U of Applied Sciences Humak; Katherine D. Rogers; Clara Sherley-Appel; Kristin Snoddon, U of Alberta; Karin Strobel, U Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Hilary Sutherland; Rachel Sutton-Spence, U of Bristol, England; James Tabery, U of Utah; Jennifer Grinder Witteborg; Mark Zaurov. "-- Provided by publisher.