An Inspirational Mother
First Heather McCarter wrote a children’s book about a talking wheelchair featuring her son, David. Now Joanne Zellweger has written a children’s book featuring her son, John Featherstone, 5, who has progressive hearing loss and was fitted with a cochlear implant aged 2.
The book, titled My Brother John, is written from the viewpoint of John’s sister, Caroline, 7. It aims to explain cochlear implants to other children, and to provide disabled children with a peer. It’s jolly, a celebration of John’s social skills and of the commitment it has taken to get him to this stage.
People think that children get an implant and can hear straight away and start speaking, says Gerard Featherstone, John’s father. An implant isn’t a miracle. They are not for everybody. They give you access to sound – learning to communicate through speech takes years of hard work from the parents as well as the child. What you learn is that hearing and listening are different things. With the implant John can hear a lot of things, but for him to learn language you have to make sure that he’s listening.
John isn’t cured. He’s deaf unless his implant is switched on, and has a limited vocabulary for his age. His family don’t deny that his DisAbility has changed their lives. However, his mother has chosen to deal with it by raising awareness and by helping other deaf children. I think that’s truly inspirational. The family has my best wishes.
My Brother John is available from Waterstone’s for £4.99.
Same Difference 
Joanne and Gerard, the author/editor of My Brother John read the book to deaf and hearing children at Waterstone’s in Manchester for Deaf Awareness Week.
It went really well, with the Waterstone’s team saying that it was one of the most interactive events the store has had!
Hopefully we’ll see them elsewhere soon!
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Thanks for visiting the blog and for that information Nicola. Good to know the book is getting well deserved publicity.
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