Donna McDonald Donna McDonald i(A5284 works by)
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon The Art of Being Deaf Donna McDonald , Washington DC : Gallaudet University Press , 2014 7357239 2014 single work autobiography

'Australian scholar Donna McDonald has achieved a successful career in social work policy focusing on disadvantage and disability, yet, until now, her work has never directly addressed the personal challenges she faced having been part of a generation of children in Australia and around the world who were born deaf, but assimilated into oral education programs in the 1950s and '60s. In The Art of Being Deaf, McDonald tells her story and describes the process of reconciling her deaf-self and her hearing persona. When she was five, McDonald was placed in an oral deaf school. There, she was trained to communicate only in spoken English. Her determination led to achievements that caused many to identify her as a "deaf girl that had made good." Yet, as McDonald describes in her memoir, despite her constant focus on fitting into the hearing world, she soon realized that she was closing-off an essential part of her identity-that of being deaf. Through the writing of the book, she comes to embrace that part of herself and to acknowledge that the art of being deaf has many crucial parallels to the art of life in general. This moving personal story will not only appeal to those who have shared similar experiences within the deaf community, but anyone who has struggled with disadvantages and questions of identity.' (Publication summary)

1 The Reluctant Memoirist Donna McDonald , 2011 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Spring no. 33 2011;

After the overwhelming response from her readers, McDonald elaborates on the experiences she described in 'I Hear With My Eyes' and talks about her plans to write a memoir.

1 I Hear With My Eyes Donna McDonald , 2006 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Autumn no. 11 2006; (p. 225-240) A Revealed Life : Australian Writers and Their Journeys in Memoir 2007; (p. 32-45)

McDonald recounts her childhood in a deaf school and her experiences with oralism.

1 Look! She Can Read Lips! Donna McDonald , 1998 single work short story
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , Spring vol. 10 no. 2 1998; (p. 57-60)
1 The Dangerous Duty of Love Donna McDonald , 1998 single work short story
— Appears in: Southerly , Winter vol. 58 no. 2 1998; (p. 211-216)
1 I Am a Mother Donna McDonald , 1997 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Mother Love 2 : More Stories About Births, Babies and Beyond 1997; (p. 173-180)
1 1 y separately published work icon Jack's Story Donna McDonald , Sydney : Allen and Unwin , 1991 Z1216099 1991 single work autobiography

Jack's Story describes the experiences of grief following the death of Donna McDonald's son, Jack, in 1987.

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