Austin Kaseman "Speechless"

I feel bad because I can't remember his name, but I took a strong interest in hearing about Professor Redick's friend who vowed not to speak after the Vietnam war. I found myself silently asking, how could a person possibly do this? You can't just not speak. It's the main form of communication between humans. After using verbal communication all your life, just completely stopping must be incredibly hard. Speech makes things available to us within seconds, whether it be information or goods. Eliminating this form of communication not only, I feel, strongly distances yourself from others, but also makes life much more complicated. Although he had friends, this man must mainly live in his head. He has to be best friends with his mind, because it's the only thing he can really talk to. I don't really know where I'm going with this blog post, because I am in sheer fascination as to how he goes about living. Being born without the ability to speak or hear I feel is almost easier, as you can learn sign language at an early and still communicate with others relatively easily. This man must fight the temptation to speak every day of his life. It's something I could never do, and I give much respect for pursuing.