The magazine for kids and teens with hearing loss
into Spring 2023 ing m o verc acles bst
Meet !
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fun & s e m ga
Contents 4 Things
Hi from Mel!
We Love
6 O vercoming Obstacles 10 Fun & Games 12 Sophie’s
Spotlight
Contributors Melanie Paticoff Grossman • Editor in Chief Magazine Design • N-KCreative.com Overcoming Obstacles • Zandy Eva’s Bookshelf • Eva ith special thanks to all of our W featured H W friends
www.HearingOurWay.com info@hearingourway.com PO Box 13, Greenlawn, New York 11740 Volume 10, No. 1 ©2023 Sophie’s Tales, LLC. All rights reserved. Hearing Our Way is published quarterly and is a publication of Sophie’s Tales, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. See p.11 for more information about subscriptions for homes, schools, and offices or visit www.HearingOurWay.com. For promotional opportunities, change of address, or other customer service, contact info@hearingourway.com. • All comments and suggestions received by Hearing Our Way become the sole property of Hearing Our Way and may be used without compensation or acknowledgment. Hearing Our Way disclaims liability for any losses or damages that may result from using information in this magazine. • Inquire today about sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Contact Info@HearingOurWay.com.
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Dear Readers,
urself this year?
you set for yo HELLO, 2023! What goals have ST EAM (Science, principles of Whatever they are, I bet the
d Math) apply. neering, Arts, an tical Technology, Engi riety of skills to help with cri
work that embraces a va STEAM STEAM is a learning frame u're facing this spring that yo ge en all ch a re the Is . ng thinking and problem solvi could help you solve? tured on our M more than Zandy, fea EA ST s die bo em o wh ne I can’t think of anyo vocate, and she scientist and disability ad ed niz og ec y-r all on ati ern cover. She is an int perience with ways to combine her life ex nd fou s ha y nd Za . ge lle co is only a junior in ople with hearing prove the lives of other pe im to ce en sci of e lov r he hearing loss with Zandy. loss. Amazing work, m Eva, but have a new book review fro ly on t no we ve, Lo We s In Th ing t her author, Rie Neal, all abou the th wi iew erv int an ve ha we also r with ich features a main characte wh , ut na tro As d tri As ies book ser ly space. it… loves science, especial ed ess gu u yo o… wh s los hearing learn about her rs, Margaret, invites us to de rea r ou of e on e, tur fea ening For a fun special traditions, which are happ ay lid ho as Gr i rd Ma its a, and city, New Orleans, Louisian this season. y who loves on ben, a tenth grade bo ht lig ot sp a ve ha we r ve Finally, on our back co too. math, science, and music, orate core values of You can find ways to incorp mwork, creativity, STEAM such as curiosity, tea d problem-solving into your
growth mindset, an
eam Ahead! goals and interests. Full St
an, M.S.D.E. Mel Paticoff Grossm Editor in Chief and maltipoo, Sophie
Look for these symbols throughout the magazine for special tips.
Hearing – Info about hearing aids, cochlear implants, and listening devices Talking – Tips for speech and language Self-Advocacy – Ideas for sharing your hearing loss story with others
Did you receive this issue from a friend, school, or office? Sign up for your own subscription to continue receiving Hearing Our Way ! www.HearingOurWay.com
You Are Strong! You can do anything you set your mind to.
i n t a t S N io t a ir p s In “[Growing up with hearing loss] has shaped me into who I am today. It has made me stronger, and I wouldn’t change anything, especially now. I found my purpose—what I’m going to do for my career. It was all worth it. Hearing loss, cochlear implants, disabilities in general, nothing can hold you back. You can achieve anything you want if you put your mind to it.” — Meghan Westman, Doctor of Audiology, who was one of the youngest cochlear implant recipients in the country when she was implanted at just over a year old. Meghan shares her story of becoming an audiologist with a cochlear implant with NBC Today.
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books We L ve: Eva’s Bookshelf Eva is a 14-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. It was really special to receive a copy of the book Astrid Astronaut from the author, Rie Neal, herself. The story features a main character, Astrid, a third grade girl with hearing loss who dreams of being an astronaut. Astrid has had hearing aids since she was very little. They help her to hear quiet noises, and they connect to a microphone that she passes to her teachers, similar to the one I use. Astrid faces some challenges in the story that get in the way of following her hopes and dreams. Even as a teenager, I still enjoyed this book and could relate to Astrid about her life with hearing loss and the challenges she faces both due to hearing loss and also the ones unrelated to her hearing loss. I recommend this book to anyone who likes entertaining books, reading about science and space, books featuring characters with hearing loss, and books that teach valuable lessons.
e author h t l, a e N ie R t e e M ut f Astrid Astrona Hi there! My name is Rie Neal (‘Rie’ is short for ‘Marie’ and is
pronounced “Ree”). I am a children’s book author with a background in audiology. I’m from San Francisco Bay, California, and I live with my husband, two daughters, and our cat Dex. In my free time, I like to read, tap dance (a little), roller skate (badly), and travel.
Fu ll Stea m Ahead
Becoming an author is NOT a fast process. I started by writing a middle-grade science fiction novel about seven years ago. I revised and revised and revised the book. Then I sent query letters to literary agents. It took six months until I finally found an agent! The agent sent my book out to publishers, but unfortunately it never sold (that happens sometimes). Instead, I received a write-for-hire book deal for a chapter book series, the Major Eights. The agent saw the success of that and suggested I write a chapter book series of my own. Because of my background in audiology, I really wanted to write a book about a character with hearing loss. I also love STEAM, space, and science, so I decided to write a series about a girl with hearing loss determined to become an astronaut one day. I wanted to show that space is for everyone, because there is definitely a movement within the space community to make this true. Writing about space also reminded me of my grandfather, who passed away seven years ago and loved NASA. I am looking forward to finishing Astrid’s series with her taking her longawaited trip to Space Camp. I also hope to write other books that show hearing loss as a normal part of life for so many kids. With Astrid, I didn’t want the main plot to revolve around her hearing loss. She has a wide range of interests, just like anyone else, and her hearing loss is only part of who she is. Kids with hearing loss can do so many amazing things, as Hearing Our Way celebrates. If you want to become an author one day, there are lots of things you can do right now to get started. Since the age of 12, I always kept a journal. It’s a great way to practice writing. Also, READ. Read anything that sparks your interest, and make the library your best friend. Another tip is to get involved in drama classes—studying acting can be really helpful in writing when thinking about how characters express emotions. Make friends with other people who like to write. It helps to have a support system by your side. Finally, follow your favorite authors on their websites and social media. I like to post about the books I read on my Instagram, @RieNealWriter. I hope you all enjoy reading my chapter book series, Astrid Astronaut!
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 full steam ahead and think of a steam train or of your school science program, but no. Full steam ahead means you are moving forward with something full-force. Like this: “After years of wearing hearing aids, I have finally decided to move full steam ahead towards getting a cochlear implant.”
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ng vercomi
bstacles
f Stories o Inspiring Y e ou Teens Lik Kids and
Zandy's Faves H ACTIVITIES Running Tennis H GAMES Settlers of Catan Mario Kart H BOOKS The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan H TV Brooklyn Nine-Nine Glee H CONCERT Bruno Mars H MOVIES My Neighbor Totoro Encanto Inside Out H FOODS Cream puffs Tiramisu
My Best Advice
H W does Zandy hear? With a magnifying glass in one hand, a TEDx mic in the other, and one BAHA!
All About Me
STEAM Team
Hi, my name is Zandy (short for Alexandra), and I am a junior studying public health at Johns Hopkins University. I'm originally from Alexandra, Virginia. I love doing experiments in the lab, composing piano music, visiting Baltimore bakeries, and watching figure skating.
I’m really proud to be a girl in the science field. One of my current lab projects is playing really loud rock concerts in mice’s ears (mice-sized headphones not included) and seeing if their hearing can bounce back after extreme noise exposure. My other neuroscience project is creating algorithms that can predict the level of hearing loss in these mice from tracking their brain activity at different pitches.
Hearing My Way I was born with severe hearing loss in my left ear from oval window atresia, which means one of the bones in the middle ear (the oval window) is deformed. At 4-yearsold, I began wearing a hearing aid, and when I was 12-years-old, I had surgery for a B Attract implant. With my Cochlear BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid), I have full access to sound. I attended mainstream school since kindergarten and received speech therapy for many years.
School Cool Starting college in a pandemic and virtual environment wasn’t easy. I quickly realized I would need more accommodations, such as CART captioning and clear masks, to ensure I could fully participate. To advocate for myself, it took a lot of emails, communication with my professors and disability services, and explaining my needs in order to get the services I needed. Now that campus is fully open, I enjoy being a campus tour guide and serving the Baltimore community as a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity.
Always remember that you control your own narrative, and don’t be
afraid to dream big !
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Zandy has so much to smile about.
Overcoming Obstacles Growing up with hearing loss was an isolating experience at times. I didn’t know many other kids like me. It also wasn’t obvious that I had hearing loss, so there were many times people were unaware and said hurtful statements or excluded me without realizing I had hearing loss.
I couldn’t hear well enough and didn’t yet have the words or advocacy skills to stand up for myself and be included in group conversations. College really changed things for me, and I’ve come such a long way.
Ear Gear One of my favorite hearing lossrelated products is the Otter Ai app for transcription services. I also use vibration alarms to help make sure I wake up on time, although sometimes I have to use quite a few to get me up! Having singlesided deafness does have its benefits, like only having to use one headphone and being able to sleep on my right ear if I don’t want to hear my twin sister snoring. I also think having hearing loss has made me a more empathetic person and a great listener, because I know what it’s like to not be heard.
That's Just the Way I Hear Hearing loss doesn’t define me. I don’t pretend that my hearing loss hasn’t given me challenges, because of course it has. Instead, I try to recognize how much learning to live with hearing loss has helped me grow into being a better friend, advocate, and scientist. I hope my hearing loss is recognized as a part of my narrative that has shaped every action I take.
Inspiration Station I have many mentors who have inspired me. My mentor and former tennis coach/ audiologist, Dr. Sheila Moore-Neff, was one of the first people who taught me how to advocate for myself and find confidence to ‘own’ my hearing loss. She introduced me to Hearing Our Way magazine one of the very first times we met! My research mentor, Dr. Tilak Ratnanather, a Deaf Biomedical Engineering professor at Hopkins, was the first scientist I met who had hearing loss. He showed me that I didn’t just have a place in science, but that my hearing loss could be an asset to my research. Dr. Aliza Watters, Mrs. Tessa McKenzie, and of course my friends and family who are always cheering me on, also inspire me every step of the way.
Proud Accomplishments I am really proud of what I have accomplished at such a young age. I’ve shared my story of growing up with hearing loss on the TEDx stage, podcasts, and more. I’ve interned on Capitol Hill (Congress) and spoke at the U.S. Department of Labor about engaging disabled youth. I recently was awarded the Heumann-Armstrong Award, which recognized my work advocating for accessibility in education. I’m excited to see what comes next for me!
Zandy started her college journey during the pandemic.
#Goals My goal is to continue working at the intersection of policy and science to help create a world where accessibility is universal. I’m not quite sure if my path will be towards becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or a neuroscience/public health researcher, but I am excited to find out. Hearing loss only enhances the work I do because I can use my personal experiences to inform the research and advocacy efforts I devote myself to.
Left: Zandy presents a TedX talk. Right: Zandy speaks at the U.S. Department of Labor during her summer internship.
Want to be on our next cover? Email your story to info@hearingourway.com
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with Margaret Margaret is a ten-year-old girl with hearing aids
who loves rock climbing, arts and crafts, and reading Hearing Our Way. Margaret lives in New Orleans, Louisiana with her mom, dad, older brother Connor, little sisters Lyla and Mary Grace, and puppy Quigley. Did you know that New Orleans is considered the home of Mardi Gras? Margaret’s here to tell you all about it.
What is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is a fun holiday celebration where family and friends come together to celebrate before Lent. It started a long time ago and has been part of New Orleans since the city was founded.
When is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras isn’t always on the same day each year. It usually falls in February or March, 47 days before Easter. Fat Tuesday is always on the day before Ash Wednesday, but in New Orleans, we don’t celebrate just one day—our celebrations go on for weeks! Mardi Gras season actually starts in January here.
What do people in New Orleans do for Mardi Gras? There are lots of parties, fancy balls, and parades. Kids in New Orleans get six whole days off of school to celebrate. We go to lots of parades with our friends, and we eat a special cake called King Cake every Friday at school. People wear lots of fun costumes, and sometimes we like to paint our faces.
What is your favorite parade? My favorite parade is called Muses. It is one of the most famous parades. I also really like the parades that take place at night because the krewes (people in the parade) throw lots of glow in the dark things like beads, balls, and toys. All the kids wave to the floats and yell, “Throw me something, Mister!” After the parades, we like to go home and trade with each other.
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Top: Margaret loves rock climbing. Bottom: Mardi Gras is fun for the whole family. Right: The night parades are some of Margaret’s favorites.
Left: “Throw me something, Mister!” Right: Margaret succeeds in getting LOTS of beads.
Does hearing loss affect you during Mardi Gras? There are lots of bands and music at the Mardi Gras parades. It can be so loud! Sometimes I turn my hearing aid volume down if it’s too loud. One time, my hearing aids ran out of batteries at the parade. That was a hard lesson, so now we always pack extra batteries before going to the parades. I always stay close to my parents at the parades because they are very crowded with people.
What is the best part about living in New Orleans? Mardi Gras is the best part, of course. It is so much fun to see all the parades and floats. Living here, it feels like the Mardi Gras celebration goes on forever. Really, it only goes on for about a month, but we look forward to it all year long. I have been to Mardi Gras every year of my life, except for the year they canceled it due to Covid.
What else do you love about New Orleans? To me, New Orleans means good food like crawfish, beignets, and king cake. Also, we have the best music like brass bands and jazz. New Orleans is so much fun. Come visit!
Sights and sounds of Mardi Gras: King cake Carnival Parade float Jazz music Beads Masks & Costumes
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& n u f es gam
STEAM Drawing Game
STEAM uses different skills, like science, math, and art, to solve problems. You'll have to use art skills of drawing and math skills of using a grid to create your own version of these science lab cartoons.
rust ou t y t ’ can Why tom? an a ake ey m h t e us . Beca rything e v up e
nce scie th e h t did e ma What ay to th s book ? k boo e got You’v ms. le prob
do ogs d f o kind ave? What tists h n scie ry rato . o b a L rs ieve retr
like you o d t often es abou How k o j ar to he stry? i chem lly. dica Perio
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your own You're invited to write a character STEAM story featuring trid Astronaut. with hearing loss like As ation (the same bonus: Use alliter create your letter for both words) to for example, own STEAM character— Mathematician. Corey Chemist or Miles
twork, too!) to: Send in your story (and ar by April 1, 2023 and you could info@hearingourway.coming issue of Hearing Our Way . be featured in an upcom
We all love our birthdays, but kids with hearing loss sometimes have a bonus celebration – their hearing birthdays – the anniversary of the day they got their hearing devices.
Your Photo Her e
We want to see photos of YOUR hearing birthday celebration. Email us at info@hearingourway.com and you may be featured in a Hearing Our Way birthday shoutout.
M al com lo ve s re ading He ar ing O ur Way an d yo u w ill , to o. ing loss Every child wit h hear ine ! az shou ld have this mag
aring Our Way is the An annual subscription to He cher, or audiologist. tea perfect gift for any student, , are available for households Single and group packages rs offices. schools, hospitals, and docto
le worldwide. Hearing Our Way is availab y.com Subscribe NOW : hearingOurWa
Give the gift of Reading The Award Winning Series about Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implants The perfect gift for holidays, birthdays, cochlear implant surgery, friends, students, and younger siblings.
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Ben, age 15, is a tenth grader from Fredonia, New York who loves to think analytically, read, and
solve problems. He loves geography and math, plays piano and violin, and does LEGO® construction in his spare time. Ben is proud to have hearing loss and uses a cochlear implant and hearing aid.
Ben’s parents first discovered that he was deaf soon after he was born, and he received his cochlear implant at 8-months-old. Ben doesn’t find that having hearing loss makes him feel too different than other kids in his mainstream school. In fact, he admits that a lot of the time, he forgets he’s deaf! Sometimes, Ben gets frustrated that when people learn that he has hearing loss, they may make assumptions about him and don’t see the full picture. Attending and contributing to his 504 program meetings and advocating for himself helps his teachers understand who he is and what his needs are. At school, he finds that his FM system helps him to hear his teachers and classmates more directly and clearly. Ben is really passionate about using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to solve problems. Not only does he find math and science fun, but he also plays piano and does an advanced music program for violin. Ben is interested in climate change and pollution and applies STEM principles to address those problems. Ben’s goal is to attend MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a leader in STEAM, and earn a degree in engineering. He hopes to become an astronautical engineer at NASA, and he knows hearing loss will not stand in his way.
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