My books
My books
In my two books, “Le silence du girafon” and “La girafe au grand cœur”, I tell true stories drawn from my life’s journey and tackle essential subjects to raise awareness. Through these stories, my aim is to touch you, to make you reflect on the challenges I’ve faced and to raise awareness.
At my conferences, I share the key points of my books, explaining what’s at stake from a distance. I invite you to discover why I chose to write them and what message I want to convey.
In particular, I talk about my life path, the challenges of oralization and LSF, the deprivation of LSF language, the impact on cognitive development and the difficulties in building my identity. I also talk about my educational background and the obstacles I overcame to move forward.
I’m pleased to share some short video excerpts from a recent conference. I hope they will arouse your curiosity and inspire you to find out more. Please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss or arrange a talk.
“Deprived of words, but never of thoughts: My fight for freedom of expression”
When I was a child, I was denied the right to communicate in French Sign Language. My parents, my brother… I could see them talking, writing, exchanging, but I couldn’t participate. At the special school for the Deaf, I was forced to speak, forbidden to sign, as if my language didn’t exist, as if my identity had to be erased.
One day, I caught my brother writing in his diary. Curious, I asked him what he was writing. His answer left a lasting impression on me:
“It’s not for you, it’s for me.”
At that moment, I felt an immense emptiness, an invisible but insurmountable barrier. I had thoughts, emotions, things to say. But how could I express them when I’d always been denied the words?
So I had an idea. Since I couldn’t write like him, I was going to create my own memory. Every time something good or bad happened, I’d choose an object, a simple “thing” that represented that moment. I’d slip it into a secret box, hidden under my bed. It was my way of keeping track, of not forgetting, of resisting in silence.
And deep down, I knew… One day, my truths would come out.
After 43 years, in the midst of covid19 confinement, I finally opened this invisible box. Thanks to LSF, my language, my voice back in my hands, I began to tell my story. It was no longer a buried secret, but a powerful message to share with the world.
Why am I telling you this?
Because so many Deaf children still experience this deprivation, this imposed silence. Because our language, LSF, deserves to be recognized and protected. Everyone has the right to exist fully, to express themselves without fear or limit.
Today, I’d like to invite you to delve into my journey, to understand this little-known reality, and to reflect together on what freedom of expression really means.
Discover me, my story, my struggles… and together, let’s open our eyes to this reality that is too often ignored.
“Deprived of words, but never of thoughts: My fight for freedom of expression”
When I was a child, I was denied the right to communicate in French Sign Language. My parents, my brother… I could see them talking, writing, exchanging, but I couldn’t participate. At the special school for the Deaf, I was forced to speak, forbidden to sign, as if my language didn’t exist, as if my identity had to be erased.
One day, I caught my brother writing in his diary. Curious, I asked him what he was writing. His answer left a lasting impression on me:
“It’s not for you, it’s for me.”
At that moment, I felt an immense emptiness, an invisible but insurmountable barrier. I had thoughts, emotions, things to say. But how could I express them when I’d always been denied the words?
So I had an idea. Since I couldn’t write like him, I was going to create my own memory. Every time something good or bad happened, I’d choose an object, a simple “thing” that represented that moment. I’d slip it into a secret box, hidden under my bed. It was my way of keeping track, of not forgetting, of resisting in silence.
And deep down, I knew… One day, my truths would come out.
After 43 years, in the midst of covid19 confinement, I finally opened this invisible box. Thanks to LSF, my language, my voice back in my hands, I began to tell my story. It was no longer a buried secret, but a powerful message to share with the world.
Why am I telling you this?
Because so many Deaf children still experience this deprivation, this imposed silence. Because our language, LSF, deserves to be recognized and protected. Everyone has the right to exist fully, to express themselves without fear or limit.
Today, I’d like to invite you to delve into my journey, to understand this little-known reality, and to reflect together on what freedom of expression really means.
Discover me, my story, my struggles… and together, let’s open our eyes to this reality that is too often ignored.
