How Will Daredevil And Echo Communicate? A Speech Pathologist's Perspective

Marvel

Aug 23

Echo and Daredevil — Image Source: ScreenRant

Daredevil and Echo have a long history in Marvel comics, as enemies, allies, and lovers. How the new Disney+ series Echo will handle their story is anyone’s guess but there is one aspect of their shared narrative that we might be able to predict.

Both Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and Maya Lopez (Echo) are characters with physical disabilities who utilize their strengths in surprising and powerful ways. Echo is deaf and an amputee, and can utilize echolocation during battle to pinpoint her enemies’ whereabouts. Similarly, Daredevil is blind and uses his other heightened senses to determine where his attackers are and when they are going to strike. The two make a powerful team, but the logistics of their communication is an important consideration.

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Daredevil and Echo comic art — Image Source: Polygon

In the comics, Daredevil and Echo’s communication is relatively a non-issue. Echo can use verbal speech by studying the placement of the lips, tongue, and teeth of verbal speakers, and she and Daredevil simply speak to communicate. In the MCU, however, Echo uses sign language over verbal speech, which requires the listener to rely on visual communication. This begs the question: how will Daredevil and Echo communicate?

There are many real-world adaptations to facilitate communication between blind and deaf populations. Many deaf and hard of hearing people do indeed use verbal speech. In 1967, school administrator Roy Holcomb coined the term “Total Communication”, referring to a method of teaching deaf students that incorporated both verbal speech and American Sign Language (ASL). Part of Total Communication involves lip-reading, or speech reading, which describes the ability to understand spoken sounds by studying the lip, tongue, and facial patterns of the speaker. While lip reading is only estimated to be about 30-40% effective, combined verbal speech and lip reading can ease communication between deaf and blind conversation partners.

From Echo’s portrayal in the Disney+ series Hawkeye, it is clear that she is proficient enough at lip reading to effectively understand verbal speakers. She also utilizes another important communication tool: interpreters. During the series, Echo’s friend and Tracksuit Mafia henchman Kazi translates her ASL messages to non-users. The use of an interpreter would be most effective for Daredevil, who may have difficulty acquiring ASL without visual support. However, with Kazi’s exposure as an accomplice in the murder of Echo’s father (and his swift death by Echo’s hand as a result), she may need to recruit a new interpreter.

Daredevil and Echo can also look to more high-tech solutions for effective communication. Alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) and speech-generating devices (SDGs) are an option for converting text or picture icons to speech. Users can click on icons or type out messages on tablet devices, which are then converted to auditory speech. These devices could help Echo craft a message that Daredevil can hear. While text-to-speech devices may be challenging to use during a fight, there are enough tech-savvy geniuses in the MCU to figure out an alternative.

The Disney+ series Echo has a unique opportunity to showcase communication adaptations between two powerful and unique heroes. Representation of these communication differences is vital to real-world audiences, reminding us that everyone has the capability to be a hero.

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