An interview with Katie J Redstar, on releasing her latest book about raising a hard of hearing, autistic child (BSL)

Hi Katie! Can you introduce who you are to our readers first of all?

Hi everyone! I’m Katie, I am profoundly deaf and visually impaired and I am from Leeds. I wear many hats! I am a sign song performer, sign song coach, BSL coach, actress, and director.

I am also a drama coach in Leeds for deaf people with additional needs.

Last but not least I am also Mum to a handsome four year old hard of hearing, autistic child.

When did you first start writing books?

I started writing books in lockdown because I realised that I wanted to make a difference. I feel drawn to educate others and advocate on matters that are important to me. This is my fifth book now that I have just released!

Wow! What sort of topics do you cover in your books and why are these important to you?

I cover a range of things from communication barriers and mental health issues, and day to day things like taxi refusals and confidence issues. My latest book is called Thrive without Limits and is dedicated to my son.

Every one of the books I have written have been based on my personal experience. Unfortunately many disabled people are left behind, unheard, unseen and I feel we all could change how society sees us by educating, advocating and telling our stories to them.

As a deaf mum to a hard of hearing, autistic child I’ve learned so much and sadly there is little to no support that’s accessible for deaf parent(s).

It’s been an uphill battle for me. I do have good spoken language but the terminology that’s often used by professionals is out of my remix. It’s not the level of language I understand and because of that it’s caused a lot of barriers to finding answers.

Can you tell us more about your latest book in particular?

The latest one, ‘Thrive without Limits’ is about my son Noah-James. He is 4 years old, autistic, hard of hearing and has multiple disabilities including Hypermobility, ARFID (Avoidance Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), and Anaphylaxis allergies.

His main communication is BSL despite professionals insisting that verbal communication is important. But BSL is so important for us as a family.

How do you write, what process do you follow?

Umm good question! I just started by writing what I could and whatever came to mind!

Are there any challenges for you with writing and how do you overcome these?

The challenges generally are when I question myself about whether the audience would be interested in reading about a certain topic? Is what I’m explaining keeping people appealed and interested? I always question myself.

What do you wish more people would learn or understand?

I’d love others to realise that using BSL in deaf or hearing people is okay, don’t keep insisting on verbal communication, family communication is also important as well.

An autistic child will learn and develop at their own pace and that’s okay too. When a parent is crying for help – listen and help, don’t assume it’s bad parenting, or a disabled parent wanting a disabled child, we just want our child/ren to be the best version of themselves no matter what.

What are your personal goals or aspirations in life?

My goal in life is to change perspectives on disability in general, as well as on BSL. But I would also love to make things better for future generations, by writing books, making films, in any way possible. I struggle to do live videos and potentially that may come in the future.

As a deaf mum to a disabled child, people don’t realise how barriers to services affect us. We can’t just pick up the phone, many of the services don’t have email from external sources so we can’t email services as it bounces back.

Do you have any advice for budding writers who don’t know where to start to publish their own book?

Amazon self publishing service is a good place to start, I wouldn’t pay out for an agent early on. Build your confidence with what you write, have an audience in mind, think about who are you targeting? What’s your story about? Is there similar out there? Will there be competition? Good luck!

Katie’s books are available on Amazon, her latest one can be found here.