Growing up as the only Deaf person in a hearing family of nine children, Raymond Luczak, 鈥�88, always felt left out at mealtime. Everyone was chattering and laughing around him but never signing 鈥斅燼nd never pausing to explain what was so funny. Just a few years ago, the acclaimed writer (pictured above) learned that this all-too-common experience has a name: Dinner Table Syndrome (or DTS for short). 鈥淪uddenly I felt a lot less alone,鈥� says Luczak, who wanted to raise awareness about the issue. The result is a , 鈥淚鈥檒l Tell You Later: Deaf Survivors of Dinner Table Syndrome,鈥� published by , that pulls together essays, short stories, and poems by 19 Deaf and hard of hearing writers.

Four of the contributors are Gallaudet faculty: English professors Kristen Harmon, Christopher Jon Heuer, and Tonya Marie Stremlau, as well as Pamela Decker-Wright, 鈥�98, of Linguistics. The work of alumni Donald A. Grushkin, ’85, G-’87, & PsyD ’88, Jer Loudenback, ’79, and Jacob Waring, E-’14, is also featured. The book is dedicated to the memory of former faculty member Andr茅 Pellerin, 鈥�82, who contributed a piece and created the cover art.

Editing the project was a reminder to Luczak of the pain these kinds of communication barriers have caused in so many families. 鈥淩egardless of genre, all have the common thread of wanting to connect with their loved hearing ones, who do not generally make an effort to include their loved D/deaf ones at mealtimes and family events,鈥� he says, noting that these situations affect not only those who sign but anyone with hearing loss.

Luczak hopes that hearing readers will recognize their privilege, understand how detrimental DTS can be, and do the work required to ensure that everyone can follow their conversations. 鈥淚f enough hearing parents with D/deaf children learned about the psychological scars of DTS, they might try to change their conversational and listening culture at their own tables so that their loved D/deaf child would not grow up resenting the feeling of being treated like a second- or third-class citizen in their own home,鈥� he says.

You can order a copy of the book on .

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Here is an excerpt from Dr. Kristen Harmon鈥檚 contribution to the anthology:

This week, on social media, I saw a Deaf influencer do a promotion of the latest technological innovation鈥揂I live caption glasses. Cautiously optimistic, I clicked on the post, hoping that THIS would finally be the technology that would allow me to be a full-fledged member of my extended family of origin, all hearing, no signing. I clicked further and further into the post and saw how much the glasses cost, how much the monthly subscription cost. I closed the post, feeling once again the false seduction of technology and science. It鈥檚 always out there, it鈥檚 always coming soon, it鈥檚 always shiny, and it鈥檚 always way too expensive. 

It鈥檚 the next big thing that never arrives. 

It鈥檚 a broken promise between deaf people and their hearing families.