February’s book was “Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism” by Elsa Sjunneson
Media links related to Elsa Sjunneson
- Her website
- Her Instagram
- A video clip featuring Elsa Sjunneson on the PBS series “American Masters” from, Season 35, Episode 11 ‘Becoming Helen Keller.’ (It runs 7 minutes and 48 seconds and is captioned.)
- An audio podcast (a transcript is included at this link) when Elsa was on an episode of Radiolab in 2022 called “The Helen Keller Exorcism” (warning, salty language). It’s about how Elsa found herself defending Helen Keller in the wake of an odd online (TikTok) trend where people were thinking that the 12 book writing, well-spoken Helen was a fraud… because it wasn’t possible for a Deafblind person to be able to DO all that herself (in short… ableism)
Books by or including work by Elsa Sjunneson
- “Disability Visibility” edited by Alice Wong: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
- “How to Make A Paper Crane From Rage” is an essay by Elsa Sjunneson published in this collection of essays
- The magazine that she won a Hugo award for her part in: “Uncanny, Issue 24, Sept/Oct 2018: Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction”.
Other Writing by Sjunneson
- This area of her website includes links to: short fiction, nonfiction, games, editorial work.
Disability Communities on Social Media
(Sjunneson mentions how helpful Twitter and other social media platforms were in helping her find others worldwide with disabilities):
- @JudithHeumann (she passed away in 2023 but she was a fierce advocate for disability rights and a movie was in production about her, activity still happens on her Instagram by others).
- @HabenGirma (we read her memoir last year). She is a DeafBlind lawyer and advocate who frequently shares news about accessibility, technology and representation.
- @_rebeccaalexander_ (we read her memoir and had her as a guest several years ago). She is DeafBlind (she has Usher Syndrome, type 3) and is a psychotherapist living New York City and frequently posting very informative short form videos on Instagram and Facebook about living with: 2 cochlear implants; various tools and adaptations she uses, pro-tactile sign language, etc.
- @sitting_pretty is the handle for Rebekah Taussig. She is an author, professor and disability rights advocate (we read her memoir last year). She shares about her personal experiences being a disabled mother and woman.
- About Alice Wong who created #DisibilityVisibility when she passed away: NPR article
- Popular hashtags used across social media to discuss disability:
- #DisabilityCommunity #DisibilityVisibility #DisabilityJustice #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #SuckItAbleism #DisabledAndCute #DisabilityPride #BabesWithMobilityAids #InvisibleIllness #DisabilityAwareness #TheBarriersWeFace
Other Memoirs we have read about the DeafBlind experience:
(These other authors are from various generations so you get a different perspective from each)
- Book (memoir) “Invisible” by Ruth Silver (read in November 2021)
- “The Radical Lives of Helen Keller (The History of Disability, 1)” by Kim E. Nielsen (nonfiction) (not a memoir obviously but a biography of a different perspective of Helen Keller. (Read in September 2022).
- “Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller” by Georgina Kleege (nonfiction/memoir) BARD: DB 63900. (Read in July 2023.)
- “Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found” by Rebecca Alexander.(nonfiction/memoir). BARD: DB 80043. (Read in July 2023.)
- “Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law” by Haben Girme (Nonfiction/memoir). (Read in November/December 2023.)
- “In Silence: growing up hearing in a deaf world” (Nonfiction) By Ruth Sidranski, BARD: DB 32598. (Read in July 2025. Not by someone who is blind, Deaf or DeafBlind, but a great memoir from an older generation about growing up with Deaf parents.)
- Always check out our list of books read, etc. on our Book Club Page
Next Book and Book Club:
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 5pm Western/ 7pm Central/ 8pm Eastern Time. Novel: “Still Life” By Joy Fielding (it is in the BARD/library for the blind as number: BARD #DB 69338). Synopsis: “A car slams into interior designer Casey Marshall, nearly killing her. Regaining consciousness in the hospital, Casey realizes she can hear people talking but can’t see, move, or communicate. She overhears police voice suspicions that the accident was attempted murder–and Casey begins to fear for her life.” Published in 2009.