My Lunchbox Diary XXII

 A new lunch box today for T. A pie of coconut milk curry plus veggies.

Reading While Nursing 6

El Deafo, by Cece BellA friend mentioned this graphic novel to me, when I told her that my daughter has microtia in one of the ears. The heroine in El Deafo loses her hearing at the age of four after having been infected with meningitis. The ups and downs in her social life from kindergarten to elementary school in the book show what a world with little sound is like, and what anyone with hearing need is special and different at the same time just like all other people. I like the point she makes that when people with normal hearing ability try to "help" those with hearing need and to be over-cautious of the difference between them, they usually fail to see how they are all the same and how people with need "wish" to be treated. This is an important reminder to me, who tend to be very imposing in many cases in good or bad ways. 
My friend also bought my daughter another picture book, Rebekah's Superpower. The author wrote this book for her daughter, who has microtia in one ear. There is less plot in it, and the purpose is to help people with normal ears understand those with needs. 

 Superpower is the connecting concept between the two books. Disability might, on the one hand, disables one from meeting the norm, but on the other, it enables another power, which is usually unimaginable and therefore powerful.