A great family drama about two families that get extremely close fast, after finding out their two daughters were switched at birth. There are so many themes happening and being played out well. Being switched at birth, how each person feels. The daughters want to get to know the new mothers and see how they could have grown up, the parents want to scope each other out, blame each other and themselves. The first two series mainly focus on the switch and the identity crises that this causes the two girls. I began watching for this but I stayed for the deaf scenes.
It really is amazing how little knew about deaf people. In terms of, some can lip read but you need to be facing them at all times and not speak super fast. So in the show when a heated argument happens sometimes they forget to face Daphne and she gets left out. Or the bond that forms from a parent learning sign language to talk to their children, Daphne and her mother have a tight bond because of this, and Daphne warms and loves her other family around the same speed that they begin to learn sign language as well.
Later in the series there is a boy who's parents refuse to learn any sign language and this impacts him so greatly, you feel very bad for his character because he doesn't feel wanted or loved at all because of it.
Another thing that is so interesting is that some sign language is literally a picture of what they are describing, so in some ways it's an even more expressive way of talking than speaking. It's great to see that they actually used deaf actors as well, as you can really see the differences between them and how well they can communicate with people.
Daphne's speech is incredible, it's very rare that she sounds even remotely like a deaf person so many people in the show assume that she can hear normally. In one episode she gets a job in a kitchen and installs mirrors to see what is behind her as she could easily turn and bump into someone without it.
The absolute highlight of the show so far and a crowning achievement, is how they handled the storyline of a deaf school getting funds to have hearing children attend there and learn sign language, how that impacted the deaf children, and how the school was threatened to close down. In the midst of this there was an episode done entirely from the point of view of a deaf person, no noise whatsoever. It was strange how eerily quiet it was without even mood music behind the episode.
In conclusion the show does a fantastic job of highlighting that deaf people have real struggles that need to be addressed, but at the same time it's not something that needs pity, they are strong content people and many would not change their hearing even if they could because the culture and friends that replaced their hearing loss was much greater. I only hope that everyone continues to have as much support as most of the children in this show and that parents of deaf children take the time to learn to communicate with them on their level.
It really is amazing how little knew about deaf people. In terms of, some can lip read but you need to be facing them at all times and not speak super fast. So in the show when a heated argument happens sometimes they forget to face Daphne and she gets left out. Or the bond that forms from a parent learning sign language to talk to their children, Daphne and her mother have a tight bond because of this, and Daphne warms and loves her other family around the same speed that they begin to learn sign language as well.
Later in the series there is a boy who's parents refuse to learn any sign language and this impacts him so greatly, you feel very bad for his character because he doesn't feel wanted or loved at all because of it.
Another thing that is so interesting is that some sign language is literally a picture of what they are describing, so in some ways it's an even more expressive way of talking than speaking. It's great to see that they actually used deaf actors as well, as you can really see the differences between them and how well they can communicate with people.
Daphne's speech is incredible, it's very rare that she sounds even remotely like a deaf person so many people in the show assume that she can hear normally. In one episode she gets a job in a kitchen and installs mirrors to see what is behind her as she could easily turn and bump into someone without it.
The absolute highlight of the show so far and a crowning achievement, is how they handled the storyline of a deaf school getting funds to have hearing children attend there and learn sign language, how that impacted the deaf children, and how the school was threatened to close down. In the midst of this there was an episode done entirely from the point of view of a deaf person, no noise whatsoever. It was strange how eerily quiet it was without even mood music behind the episode.
In conclusion the show does a fantastic job of highlighting that deaf people have real struggles that need to be addressed, but at the same time it's not something that needs pity, they are strong content people and many would not change their hearing even if they could because the culture and friends that replaced their hearing loss was much greater. I only hope that everyone continues to have as much support as most of the children in this show and that parents of deaf children take the time to learn to communicate with them on their level.