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 (ADA) 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 she learned to speak through speech therapy and to piece together missing sounds through lipreading and an eventual cochlear implant, all while finding clarity and meaning in American Sign Language (ASL) and written literature.

Now in Articulate, Kolb blends personal narrative with cultural commentary to explore the different layers of deafness, language, and voice. She deconstructs multisensory experiences of language, examining the cultural importance hearing people attach to sound, the inner labyrinths of speech therapy, the murkiness of lipreading, and her lifelong intimacy with written English. And she uses her own experiences to illuminate the complexities of disability access, partnerships with ASL interpreters, Deaf culture and d/Deaf identity, and the perception versus reality of deafness.

Part memoir, part cultural exploration, Kolb 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, Articulate 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.