Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History

Jaipreet VirDi’s book about her life and experiences as a deaf person are compelling and touched me. Not simply a tour of her own life and journey, but a hefty, academic consideration of humanity’s response to deafness in its members. She describes humanity's main actors as clever, innovative and relentlessly positive, one “cure” after another is offered up, and the author documents all she finds throughout history. Oh, the things we have done to ears, and to those who carry those ears! I felt so miserable for these people, and the realization of the isolationist systems cultures and social sorting mechanisms we have installed through time, right down to today! I had never thought about this, about the ideas, situations and the money made on the ears of so many.

I am a hearing person whose total experience with this attribute (deafness) that proves so challenging in our society and which takes full-sized hearing as a baseline for “normalcy” is that in my sixth decade I am the owner of Old Ears. They’ve been tugged on, poked at, shoved up, had way too much volume inserted, and I dare not recall what other abuses to which I’ve subjected them. One of the most stunning aspects presented by the author, surprising me the most, was the idea that deafness is not an illness, nor are the deaf broken. They are deaf. They are different. But sadly, and Ms. VirDi made a clear case, a compelling one, that discusses all the ways the deaf are stigmatized and shamed. She goes page by page by page discussing the painful “cures” and machines and mechanical baubles that promise a miracle life after deafness. I was stunned to learn, and had to read it a number of times: deafness cannot be cured. What???? It is not an illness. A person can be taught strategies to work around it, responses to it and some are content not to do so. And those are often the ones most punished by society for not continuing to seek “cures”. . .

The author’s reference materials and endnotes are thorough, and point the way to continued resources for interested readers. I always appreciate that kind of generosity, and confidence in the body of work being presented – giving all comers the opportunity to test the water and gauge the trustworthiness of the author’s main points.

The book is quite like a textbook in the historical descriptions, but it is very relevant to a reader as times closer to their lifetime is approached, and societal “solutions” are presented with media proof. These come and go and with artful weaving the author pulls us back to her experiences, her family’s responses, and the responses others have face(d) during the difficult challenge they sometimes choose: that of “passing” as a hearing person. The larger message of this book is so important, and straight from her conclusion: Deafness is not a tragedy. That is important for me to say. It is not a tragedy. The painful nature of deafness is the contradiction in. . . .a conflict of impulses to repair and the need to acknowledge diversity. . . .”

I highly recommend this important work by Jaipreet VirDi.


A sincere thanks to Jaipreet VirDi, University of Chicago Press and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jaipreet Virdi’s Hearing Happiness is an interesting addition to the literature about the experience of Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Virdi tells us about her own experience of hearing loss while framing it with a comprehensive study of efforts to cure deafness throughout history. Many of the early works of Deaf history focused primarily on competing methods of education (especially the differences between oral and sign-based pedagogy) as well as the development of a strong Deaf culture and community via residential schools and Deaf social organizations. This book, however, encompasses a larger population of deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Preet considers how hearing society has seen deafness as a tragedy to be cured at any cost, often going to extremes. A well done book which will broaden understanding of elements of the experiences of deaf people.

This book is something special. The subtitle is a clever hook that will draw in fans of Mary Roach and medical history, but this book does more than walk us through historic cures for deafness. Virdi's investigation is personal as well as historical, and she shares what it was like to grow up deaf in a world obsessed with fixing her. This book raises ethical questions that encourage readers to look beyond the quackery of the past and consider the disability rights (or lack thereof) of the present.

Very interesting nonfiction book about the supposed "cures and causes" of deafness.
The real shame of it is the deaf and hard of hearing were taken advantage of by quacks that were essentially snake oil sales men. In times past among other things they believed lack of proper sleep and the lack of the correct diet could cause deafness. Many things were tried to restore hearing and a lot of these things the creators knew where not effective but they still gladly took the people's money for it. Cumbersome,embarrassing and awkward many of the tried items didn't stay on the market long.
Reading this makes a person more empathetic towards the hearing impaired and how they are taken advantage of.
Very informative book!

Pub Date: 31 Aug 2020
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I requested this book as the mother of 2 hard of hearing daughters. For the entirety of my youngest child's life, I've tried to seek knowledge about her fluctuating hearing loss. She's a mystery. This book helped me see that I have never been alone in my quest to discover the mystery of the inner ear and hearing loss/deafness. No matter how often I tried to seek an answer to my child's condition, hearing loss is often just hearing loss.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for this well-researched book and personal account.