Here is some information about DeafBlind organizations and people.
More: https://mn.gov/deaf-commission/about/who-we-are/board/ryan-odland.jsp
Haben: the Deafblind woman who conquered Harvard Law by
The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. Haben takes readers through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connection. "This autobiography by a millennial Helen Keller teems with grace and grit." -- O Magazine "A profoundly important memoir." -- The Times ** As featured in The Wall Street Journal, People, and on The TODAY Show ** A New York Times "New & Noteworthy" Pick ** An O Magazine "Book of the Month" Pick ** A Publishers Weekly Bestseller **
Not Fade Away: a memoir of senses lost and found
Even a darkening world can be brilliantly lit from within. Born with a rare genetic mutation called Usher Syndrome type III, Rebecca Alexander has been simultaneously losing both her sight and hearing since she was a child, and was told that she would likely be completely blind and deaf by age 30. Then, at 18, a fall from a window left her athletic body completely shattered. None of us know what we would do in the face of such devastation. What Rebecca did was rise to every challenge she faced. She was losing her vision and hearing and her body was broken, but she refused to lose her drive, her zest for life and - maybe most importantly - her sense of humor. Now, at 35, with only a sliver of sight and significantly deteriorated hearing, she is a psychotherapist with two masters' degrees from Columbia University, and an athlete who teaches spin classes and regularly competes in extreme endurance races. She greets every day as if it were a gift, with boundless energy, innate curiosity, and a strength of spirit that have led her to places we can't imagine. In Not Fade Away, Rebecca tells her extraordinary story, by turns harrowing, funny and inspiring. She meditates on what she's lost - from the sound of a whisper to seeing a sky full of stars, and what she's found in return - an exquisite sense of intimacy with those she is closest to, a love of silence, a profound gratitude for everything she still has, and a joy in simple pleasures that most of us forget to notice. Not Fade Awayis both a memoir of the senses and a unique look at the obstacles we all face - physical, psychological, and philosophical - exploring the extraordinary powers of memory, love, and perseverance. It is a gripping story, an offering of hope and motivation, and an exquisite reminder to live each day to its fullest. 'A remarkable story of resilience and heart, Not Fade Awayfollows Rebecca Alexander as she must navigate the world cursed with a rare genetic disorder that will one day rob her of both sight and hearing. Bereft of self-pity, funny, and bursting with honesty, Not Fade Awaywill get its hooks in you. I promise that by the end of her story, you will fall just as in love with Rebecca as I have.' Susannah Cahalan,New York Timesbestselling author of Brain on Fire 'There is a saying that goes - you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. Rebecca Alexander's indomitable spirit spills out on to the pages of this incredible memoir. She will lift you up . . . the way she did for me.' Hoda Kotb, New York Times bestselling author of Ten Years Laterand Hoda, and Emmy-award-winning anchor of Today 'Her eyes and ears may be declining, but Rebecca's sense of self is sharply focused and profoundly tuned. By sharing her life, she has enriched mine and will yours, too. I love this woman.' Meredith Vieira, journalist and Emmy Award-winning television host
She Touched the World : Laura Bridgman, deaf-blind pioneer
When she was just two years old, Laura Bridgman lost her sight, her hearing, and most of her senses of smell and taste. At the time, no one believed a child with such severe disabilities could be taught to communicate, much less lead a full and productive life. But then a progressive doctor, who had just opened the country's first school for the blind in Boston, took her in. Laura learned to communicate, read, and write--and eventually even to teach. By the age of 12, she was world famous. Audiences flocked to see her, and she was loved and admired by children everywhere. This fascinating and moving biography shows how Laura Bridgman paved the way for future generations of children with disabilities, making possible important advances in the way they would be educated. As a blind person with some hearing loss, Sally Hobart Alexander lends a unique and intimate perspective to this inspiring account. At last, the story of Laura Bridgman can find its long-deserved place alongside those of Louis Braille and Helen Keller.
Through the Tunnel: Becoming DeafBlind
Using a mixture of prose and poetry, Angie C. Orlando shares indelible stories about growing up in a small Ohioan town, complete with posing for family pictures, watching high school football games, and playing saxophone in a marching band. Yet she is equally funny and unflinchingly honest about how classmates, medical professionals, and others have viewed her multiple disabilities, all of which had gradually became apparent over time. Through it all, she leaves her abusive husband and endures her brother's suicide to become her own person. "Angie C. Orlando's prose is poetic and plainspoken at the same time. It slips into your heart and settles there to tell an unforgettable tale. Through the Tunnel bears testimony to our capacity for coping with change and transcending trauma." --John Lee Clark, author of Where I Stand: On the Signing Community and My DeafBlind Experience
Being Seen by
A Deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else. As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness--much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they're whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be. As a media studies professor, she's also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film, and here she deconstructs their impact, following common tropes through horror, romance, and everything in between. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the Deafblind experience, Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all.
Deaf-Blind Reality:Living the LIfe
Most stories about disabled people are written for the sake of being inspirational. These stories tend to focus on some achievement, such as sports or academics, but rarely do they give a true and complete view of the challenges individuals must deal with on a daily basis. For example: How does a deaf-blind person interact with hearing-sighted people at a family reunion? How does she shop for groceries? What goes through his mind when he enters a classroom full of non-handicapped peers? These aren't questions you are likely to find answers to while reading that incredible tale of success. They are, however, issues that a deaf-blind person wishes others understood. Deaf-Blind Reality: Living the Life explores what life is really like for persons with a combination of vision and hearing loss, and in a few cases, other disabilities as well. Editor Scott M. Stoffel presents extensive interviews with 12 deaf-blind individuals, including himself, who live around the world, from Missouri to New Zealand, Louisiana to South Africa, and Ohio to England. These contributors each describe their families' reactions and the support they received; their experiences in school and entering adulthood; and how they coped with degeneration, ineffective treatments, and rehabilitation. Each discusses their personal education related to careers, relationships, and communication, including those with cochlear implants. Deaf-Blind Reality offers genuine understanding of the unspectacular but altogether daunting challenges of daily life for deaf-blind people.
Touch the Future: A Manifesto in Essays-On Reserve at Library Services Desk
Walk in My Shoes
Walk in My Shoes is a book unlike any other. It is a unique collection of 27 powerful stories by individuals who have witnessed or experienced the tragedy of losing not one, but two senses: hearing and sight. The loss is caused by a rare disease called Usher syndrome. These stories will give you a glimpse into the world of the deafblind and their families and friends.
The collection of stories will give you a chance to walk in the shoes of those with Usher syndrome with different perspectives, experiences, and situations of those constant challenges that they face.
Instead of giving up, these people discover and embrace their inner strength to overcome great obstacles and adversity in their quest for acceptance, equality, and respect by society. Even the simplest everyday tasks that people take for granted, such as public transportation, cooking, or even walking around, can be a Herculean challenge for those with Usher syndrome. Yet, they keep on fighting and adapting to those constant challenges. These people, along with their families and friends, are unseen and unheard heroes. Even though they may not see or hear, they have so much to teach us about the human spirit, overcoming harsh obstacles and seeking equality in a society that does not understand them.
These are their stories.
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