Nov 3, 2018Reading Between the Lines I Couldn’t SeeI was born Deaf and lost my vision as an adult — but reading is my constant companion — The first time books changed my life, I didn’t even know what a book was. My mother reeled when I was diagnosed as totally Deaf at four months old. She called it “the destruction of dreams.” “I wanted to be a mother, a good mother,” she once told me before…Books8 min read
Published in Modus·Sep 28, 2018The Power of Tactile TypographyAs someone with limited sight, Braille allows me to feel the landscape of language — About six years ago, my world turned upside down as my sight receded into blurs and whorls of color and light. One thing that changed most was how I read. As someone who loved books, I didn’t want to completely abandon the written word. Against the advice of a low-vision…Typography10 min read
Sep 11, 2018A Guide to Making Reading Fiction FunWhat sucks the fun out of reading and what to do about it — When you read a good story, a lot happens. It activates your visual cortex as if you were actually seeing what the words describe. Your oxytocin levels spike, bringing on all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings. The nifty neurochemical is called the “love hormone” for a good reason. Whenever…Reading9 min read
Aug 29, 2018From Silence to SoundWhat it’s really like to hear for the first time after growing up totally deaf — I didn’t hear a damn thing until I was six. When my parents discovered my deafness at four months, the audiologist told them that I was the deafest baby she had ever met. I didn’t react to even the loudest sounds, which were noted as no-reaction on my audiogram. The…Life10 min read
Jul 19, 2018The Vanities of a Blind WomanIf you had met me six years ago, you would’ve found me to be an ordinary young woman where my vanities were concerned. Whenever I passed by the mirror, my gaze assessed my reflection. I zeroed in on my physical flaws. The bump on my nose. My belly’s stubborn convexity…Fashion5 min read
Apr 2, 2018The Odd One OutThe strange dynamics of growing up deaf in a hearing family — When I was 11, my 13-year-old sister locked herself into her room in a fit of teenage angst. Before she quarantined herself, she covered my parents’s bathroom mirror with post-its detailing their every transgression. As you might’ve guessed, there were many. …Deaf14 min read
Mar 22, 2018When Bad People Create Good ArtThe ethical dilemma of consuming good art by bad people — Every time a famed artist is felled by some shocking revelation, we start wringing our hands. “What should we do?” we cry. “Should we keep on enjoying their art? Or should we boycott beautiful things create by filthy people?” …Art12 min read
Mar 5, 2018Like and Equal are Not the Same Thing‘A Wrinkle in Time’ has a message that rings as true today as it did in 1962. — When a book comes along at just the right time, it changes you forever. A Wrinkle in Time was that book for me. A Wrinkle in Time begins with the disappearance of Dr. Murry, a scientist working on a top-secret government project. He leaves behind a wife and four children…Books9 min read
Feb 11, 2018The Complications of Growing Up BionicIt’s not a tragedy to be deaf and it’s not a miracle when technology brings you sound — When I was nine, my class went on a field trip to a sensory research lab. A local TV crew came along as part of a human interest story on what schoolchildren thought about animal testing. It must’ve been a really slow news week. All of my classmates mugged for…Deafness16 min read
Jun 21, 2017How to Tell if a Piece of Fiction Has Literary MeritLiterary merit can be a dangerous term. If you stand up in an English department meeting and declare that Hemingway is an alcoholic sexist who couldn’t write for the JCPenny catalogue, you may start a civil war. People get testy about this stuff. As any teenager who has read the…Books7 min read
