Articulate

A Deaf Memoir of Voice

A deaf writer’s exploration of language, communication, and what it means to be articulate—and her journey to reclaim her voice

Rachel Kolb was born profoundly deaf the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, and she grew up as part of the first generation of deaf people with legal rights to accessibility services. Still, from a young age, she contorted herself to expectations set by a world that prioritizes hearing people. So even while she found clarity and meaning in American Sign Language (ASL) and written literature, she learned to speak through speech therapy and to piece together missing sounds through lipreading and an eventual cochlear implant.

Now, in Articulate, Kolb blends personal narrative with commentary to explore the different layers of deafness, language, and voice. She tells the story of how, over time, she came to realize that clear or articulate self-expression isn’t just a static pinnacle to reach, a set of words to pronounce correctly, but rather a living and breathing process that happens between individual human beings. In chronicling her own voice and the many ways she’s come to understand it, Kolb illuminates the stakes and complexities of finding mutual and reciprocal forms of communication.

Part memoir, part cultural exploration, Articulate details a life lived among words in varied sensory forms and considers why and how those words matter. Told through rich storytelling, analysis, and humor, this is a linguistic coming-of-age in both Deaf and hearing worlds, challenging us to consider how language expresses our humanity—and offering more ways we might exist together.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

This book came out the same month we discovered our baby is profoundly deaf

I am a hearing mama to a 7 month old deaf baby girl. What a blessing Rachel’s book has been to me. Her words brought me to tears more than once but also comforted me so much as we are just beginning our journey into deaf language and culture. I wish everyone would read it.

Awesome! A must read!

Thank you Dr. Rachel Kolb for sharing your experience through life!

Once I started I could not stop. I appreciated your insightfulness and your memoir has given me much to pounder about.

This is a must read book!

Muchas gracias for your sojourn and the importance of sharing it with us!

Should be required reading

Strong arguments in support of bilingual speech therapy. Missing deaf community literacy rates and how access to spoken language is essential to acquiring language (whether signed or spoken).

Deaf experience brilliantly and beautifully shared!

This book does an incredible job of helping the reader better understand the Deaf experience, including a nice amount of Deaf culture and history. I am late deafened w a cochlear implant, along with a few semesters of ASL and although my story is very different i could relate to many aspects of Rachel’s experience. She helped me better understand the experiences of my D/deaf friends who were raised oral. She helped me grapple with important questions around disability. She fueled my desire to become a better signer. Thank you Rachel for this rich and provocative work!!

Much needed insight

This offers both great insights into Deaf culture and experience but also insights into the ADA generation. She serves as an inspiration to me - as a disabled woman from an earlier generation - and a reminder that it is not our responsibility to fit our bodies into others norms but that we can and should expect access (or even better - create our own spaces)