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9781563680908

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"""A Phone of Our Own is much more than another case study of the way mainstream ignorance and profit motives intersected to restrain the production of technological advances of special interest to a minority community (and, in so doing, contributed to that group's marginalization!). For example, Lang chronicles how deaf individuals from across the country, led by Robert Weitbrecht, James Marsters, and Andrew Saks, worked tirelessly from the l960s through the 1980s first to design and then to promote successfully the production and distribution of equipment that has culminated in the current TTY. These unsung deaf adults, Lang further explains, also went on to spur state and federal governments to establish a national telephone relay system that now crisscrosses the nation. Finally, Lang demonstrates how these largely unrecognized efforts have been instrumental in enhancing educational, vocational, and social opportunities for deaf individuals. This untold story of self-activity is a 'missing' chapter in the still unfolding history of the nation's deaf community and, likely, the work's most lasting contribution.""-- ""Disability Studies Quarterly"" ""A Phone of Our Own is a remarkable and enduring story of innovation and the enduring human spirit.""-- ""Midwest Book Review"""

The best parts of this well-researched book describe the talents and personalities of the major players and the eventual cooperation from many sources that has allowed the deaf to enhance their personal, social, and professional lives by using a phone. This account chronicles a most important leap for deaf communication from the 1960s through the 1990s, of which many of the hearing population are unaware.

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Harry G. Lang is Professor Emeritus at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology.

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