Misdiagnosis of Deaf People

A growing body of evidence suggests that Deaf people are more likely than most hearing people to experience abuse both as children and as adults at the hands of caregivers and strangers. While awareness about the widespread abuse of Deaf people has grown considerably since the 1970s, to date, few studies on Deaf culture and history address the more complex instances of abuse of Deaf people that occur at the intersection of race, disability, language, and societal attitudes. S. Burch and H. Joyner’s publication of Unspeakable: The Story of Junius Wilson is one such commendable effort. Burch and Joyner analyze how race and disability intersected with societal attitudes, public policy, and placement and treatment in state institutions to affect the life of one individual—an African ...