John B. Christiansen

The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community.@@@Mainstreaming and the American Dream: Sociological Perspectives on Parental Coping with Blind and Visually Impaired Children

made the case effectively. Discrimination has existed in the United States since the first school for the deaf was established in the early 19th century and existed in France for generations before that. However, Lane forfeits credibility by sensationalizing the situation and, even more grievous, by betraying his ideals through arrogant, paternalistic, and condescending behavior toward deaf people in general and deaf Africans in particular. His actions, as described in the book, betray a chilling mask of benevolence. Lane takes complex issues, such as assessment of cognitive and socialemotional adjustment of deaf people, educational placement, relationships between ASL and English, and the efficacy or danger of cochlear implants with young children, and in each case reduces the issue into superficial either/or, good/bad dichotomies. He does the same with individuals and even periods of time. For example, according to Lane, the period around the middle of the 19th century was almost a golden age for deaf Americans, and the present time is bad. Such generalizations are simply false. There were many positive aspects of life for deaf Americans in the 19th century, but there were also many terrible problems. There are many problems of discrimination and lack of access for present day deaf Americans, but there are also many positive aspects. By refusing to acknowledge this, Lane calls into question his sweeping, often undocumented, claims. The basic premise of this book is