I Am Not a Stranger

Most deaf children are born into “hearing” families, which can present bonding difficulties for both the child and other family members, especially if the latter make little effort to interact with the deaf child. Most families fall into one of three categories: those with little contact aside from gestures and pointing; those with some verbal contact and rudimentary signing; and those incorporating full sign language with verbalization (which teaches lip reading). Comparing these three approaches, this program offers a first-person view of a deaf child's day, from waking up, to a park and museum visit, to bedtime (with no soundtrack, of course). After each scenario, a signing interpreter (whose presentation is given with both voiceover narration and open captions) contrasts what was and was not done in order to make the child feel included and valued in the family. One of the most important segments of the program comes at the end, when it's revealed that the “father” in the piece is deaf (he relates how lonely he felt as a child growing up in a family that had little interest in interacting with him--powerful stuff that could have been used more effectively in the introduction). Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)