I was a member of Temple Judea, a reform synagogue in Tarzana, California, for twenty-five years. Even after a virus robbed me of most of my hearing and forced me out of my tenured sixth grade teaching assignment, I stayed a temple member. Though I couldn’t understand a word of the rabbi’s sermons or capable…
Dear Channie and Koren, A few years ago Time Magazine printed letters written by famous dads to their children. Since they overlooked me (go figure), I thought I’d send you a note. On January 22, 2015 you were together in Mexico thousands of miles from your California home. That was the day I received…
Dear Pop, My twelve-year-old son is near deaf. He feels isolated from his peers and family. What can I do to make people understand his unique communication needs? Worried Mom Dear Worried Mom, Helen Keller, the deaf and blind American author and political activist, once wrote, “Blindness separates us from things, but deafness separates us…
Audiologists acknowledge four levels of deafness—mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Author Cece Bell is severely to profoundly deaf. At the age of four she contracted meningitis, robbing her of most of her hearing. When she started public school, Cece was mainstreamed into a regular classroom. She knew she was different from the other kids due…
Doctors will tell you about the many benefits of exercise—a great way to keep the pounds in check and the metabolism chugging. Exercise also reduces the risk of developing diabetes, colon cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease. On a personal note, when I complete a workout I feel a small fire blazing inside…
Twenty-four years ago author Michael Thal began what would become The Koolura Series. His prime motivation at the time was to get his daughter Channie excited about reading. Then in the sixth grade, she promised to read the book upon its publication. Good for her word, even though she was twenty-eight years…
Deafness is an invisible disability leaving its victims isolated within a hearing environment where oral language dominates the social, political, and entertainment worlds. Compared with the general population, there are few people touched by deafness, so the majority has no idea of its emotional impact and social effect on its victims. Myron Uhlberg knows better….
On April 16, 2018 the 9thAnnual eLit Book Awards announced its winners for 2018. There were 65 award categories including Historical Fiction, True Crime, and Autobiography/Memoir. Each category awarded three prizes—Gold, Silver, and Bronze. In the Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction category, Koolura and the Mayans won the Gold Prize! The eLit Book Awards is a global awards…
Chris Grafil, a graduate of DeVry University, Pomona and a field engineer at Retina Institute of California by day, has an interesting dream. He wants to be a funny man like George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, or Chris Tucker. Grafil says, “When I was a tween and teen I seemed to always make my friends laugh…
Author Lou Ann Walker’s primary language is American Sign Language (ASL). Born to Deaf parents, it was her job to be the ears and voice for her family. Raised in Indiana during the early 1950s-60s, Walker eloquently writes about a loving family faced by an ignorant public to the problems inherent in deafness. Over twenty-three…