Interview: Teri Brown

Some people may not understand or be fully aware of the differences between hearing impairments. There are those who are deaf since birth, those who are hard of hearing, late deafened people, oral deaf... Serena, the lead character in the upcoming novel Read My Lips, is an oral deaf teenager who is able to speak and has some level of hearing, but prefers to communicate by reading lips rather than using sign language. (Read my full-length book review.)

Teri Brown wrote the novel in tribute to near and dear family members with hearing impairments.

What prompted you to write Read My Lips?

The fact that Read My Lips exists is due to my mother in law, Judy Brown. After her granddaughter was diagnosed as profoundly deaf, Judy became an advocate for deaf children everywhere. We spent hours discussing her work and I was overjoyed as she was when Oregon passed the Newborn Hearing screening law she worked so hard for. She was a force! She would show up at legislative meetings carrying a plate of cookies and then blow them away with her knowledge. She was also on the board for the Oregon Chapter of The Alexander Graham Bell Association. The seeds for Read My Lips were sown during that time. Unfortunately, she passed away before the book was bought. I dedicated the book to her.

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