Between Worlds: Usher Syndrome Type III

When Rebecca Alexander was 12 years old, she had trouble seeing the blackboard. She made her way from an optometrist to an ophthalmologist and was eventually diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Her parents were told she would be blind by the time she was an adult. Rebecca also had a cookie bite of hearing loss. Through high school, she wore her hearing aids as little and as discreetly as possible. It wasn't until Rebecca was in college — when she experienced extreme tinnitus and saw an otolaryngologist — that the diagnosis of Usher syndrome became real. Today, Rebecca Alexander is an award-winning author, psychotherapist, keynote speaker, group fitness instructor, disability advocate, and extreme athlete. She also has Usher syndrome type III, and is almost completely blind and deaf. Her book, Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found, is being made into a major motion picture.