April was diagnosed with a hearing loss condition called Otosclerosis at the age of 25. Otosclerosis is an abnormal growth of bone in the middle of the ear. This causes the structure of the ear to change and results in hearing loss.
After learning about her diagnosis, she made it her mission to help rid the stigma attached to disabilities. She wanted to start a positive conversation.
At first, April found herself embarrassed of her hearing aids. She would hid them them by wearing her hair down. However, April realized that she didn’t need to be ashamed of something that made her day to day life easier. Now, she embraces her hearing aids to the fullest.
Recently, the hard of hearing and deaf community were faced with a new challenge – masks. Not only do masks muffle the sound of someone’s voice, they also take away the ability to read lips and see expressions.
All of these things inspired April to create a children’s book titled “What’s Your Superpower?”. Her book features several different disabilities in an effort to normalize everyone’s differences and abilities. To get your hands on a copy of April’s book, you can email April directly at [email protected].
Thank you so much to my sponsor, JJ Stewart Motors for their continued investment and support to share these stories.
