Laura and Dan Miller (Matlin, Daniels) have been happily married, as well as best friends, for many years, but their relationship begins to change when their only son, Adam (Noah Valencia), loses his hearing at the age of four. Laura, who is deaf herself, sees this occurrence as a minor problem, something that she has dealt with her whole life. Dan, on the other hand, at first agrees with her but starts to realize that, with surgery, his son could regain his hearing and live a more normal life.
Tempers flare and frustrations mount as Dan investigates the surgery and its pros and cons. Laura is dead set against it and makes that very clear, even as Dan begins to favor the procedure for his child. Locked in their own worlds, the couple must find a way to mend their differences and make the best decision for Adam's future.
While I'm looking forward to watching this movie on Sunday, I can see that I already have a beef with how the story is portrayed. In the movie description, this once sentence stood out:
"....with surgery, his son could regain his hearing and live a more normal life."
Normal? As measured against what? I have friends who are profoundly deaf and can't utter a word by speaking. Drive by their house and you wouldn't see anything different from all the houses in the neighborhood, except American Sign Language is the language in their home. They've got a four bedroom house, jobs, kids and they battle the everyday stuff like everyone else does.
I think Hallmark needs a lesson from Marlee herself: Remember that the only "handicap" of being Deaf is the one that's in your head and not the one that people think is in your ears.
