Misdiagnosed In Anne M. Bolander And Adair N.

The history of lives for those who were disabled in America has not been a cheerful one. From eugenics to unsafe mental institutions with terrible living conditions. Now imagine that some people forced to live this way were not actually mentally handicapped but simply misdiagnosed because of a hearing impairment at a young age. This world and life is show in great detail in Anne M. Bolander and Adair N. Renning’s memoir “I was number 87; a deaf woman's ordeal of misdiagnosis, institutionalization, and abuse”. In this book Anne M. Bolander is misdiagnosed as have a learning disability at a young age and spends 5 years of her life in a Mental Impairment institution. Personally I really enjoyed the book even if it was quite hard to get through without crying or screaming at characters who could not hear me at times. I liked it because it was sad
It is my view that Anne was deaf when she was growing because she grew up in a hearing environment that viewed her deafness as a disability. She was taught to think that she had a problem and that being deaf was a disability and a hindrance to her life. Later in life though i would say she became Deaf because she was able to learn about Deaf culture and embrace her Deafness as simply a difference that does not make her any less of a person. In terms of who i’d recommend Anne’s story too I would recommend this book only to anyone who is ready and willing to read a depressing story. While it is pretty interesting and compelling the life of Anne is filled with pain because of how she was misdiagnosed and abused as a child and can be hard to get through at times. The book is great and compelling but definitely not an light beach read. Anne’s tale is one that only readers who willing to read a darker view of how Deaf people once lived should dive into. So I would say that I would recommend this book only to some. Overall i really enjoyed the book and hope others will