The magazine for kids and teens with hearing loss
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Look We L ve Grace is a 6-year-old girl from Columbus, Georgia who decided to celebrate her birthday with a fabulous ‘flashion’ (as Grace calls it) photoshoot!
Photo credits: Sumika Phillips
After losing her hearing from meningitis at age 3, she was implanted and activated a few months later. Now, Grace loves to sing Beyoncé, dance tap and ballet, and is excelling in math and reading at school. When Grace grows up, she wants to be a fairy, a firefighter, and a princess! We love Grace’s fierce fashion photoshoot and, most of all, her confidence as she lets her personality, and cochlear implants, shine in her photos!
books We L
ve: Eva’s Bookshelf
Eva is a 13-year-old girl from New Jersey who has
always loved reading! She has hearing loss in her left ear, but with the help of her Roger Focus® receiver and wireless system, she never lets hearing loss hold her back! Ready to discover your next favorite book? Eva invites you to explore her bookshelf.
I Am Malala Yousafzai is the 26th children's book in author Brad Meltzer’s Ordinary People Change the World series. Malala was an ordinary Muslim girl from Pakistan who tried to stand up for her right to go to school. When she was 15, she was attacked by a powerful group who wanted women to stay silent, and she survived. She had to have many surgeries and was left with permanent damage to her face as well as hearing loss, for which she received a cochlear implant. She continued to advocate for womens’ rights and education and at 17, became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I like reading this picture book series because it shows how people can live very different lives than you do and may be treated differently because of their cultures and beliefs. I liked how it highlighted the skill of advocacy, which is so important as a person with hearing loss. I was disappointed that the book did not mention Malala’s hearing loss or show her cochlear implant in illustrations. I would still recommend this book because it teaches kids to stand up for what we believe in!
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Ride it Ou t Aliza, 20, and Bruce, 16, both have Cochlear™ Nucleus® System 7 cochlear implants. Together they enjoy sports like wakeboarding and ATV racing. They have a special bond not only as siblings with hearing loss, but also as part of a family with parents who are deaf as well!
Aliza: I had a progressive hearing loss, and by the time I was 12 months old, I was
profoundly deaf. I was the first to get a cochlear implant, and it inspired my parents to get implanted as well! When my brother was born deaf, my parents had no doubt they would implant him, too. It was fun to be the big sister and help him learn to use his cochlear implants and identify new sounds.
Bruce: It was great to have Aliza show me the ropes with my cochlear implant. She became the family technology expert and helps me with my devices, app, and my favorite feature—Bluetooth!
Aliza: We have become really close by participating in sports together. First we did wakeboarding and then we got into ATV racing, inspired by our dad.
Bruce: It can be really hard to hear over the loud noise of the ATV engine,
especially while wearing our helmets. Sometimes we use sign language to help us communicate before the race.
One Last Word: We feel so grateful that even though all four members of
our family have hearing loss, we get to experience a world of sound together. We know we can do anything we put our minds to, especially with each other’s support. Our hope for each other is that we reach for, and even beyond, our dreams and achieve success.
Language can be tricky, especially idioms, which are groups of words or expressions that mean something different than what they say. You might hear the idiom ride it out and think you’re going surfing, but no! Ride it out means to stick to what you’re doing over time and get through it. Like this: “I’ve had a lot of highs and lows this school year. Now, I’m just trying to ride it out until school’s out for summer.”
Looking back: Aliza and Bruce loved racing ever since they were little kids!
Hearing loss is part of the whole family. Share your story with us: info@hearingour way.com
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