Julie Hayes-Nadler

Julie Hayes-Nadler:

Advocate for the Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened Community

Julie’s experience with hearing loss began early in life. As a child, she lost hearing in one ear and grew up with single-sided deafness. In her 30s, Julie was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, a chronic inner ear disorder that further complicated her hearing issues. By her late 50s, she was well on the course to losing most of her hearing in her remaining ear, leading to fluctuating severe to often profound hearing loss. Navigating this fluctuating process has at times been quite difficult emotionally but she credits her ability to find her strength and resilience to her supportive family and friends and also her personal commitment to meditation, yoga, outdoor adventure, prioritizing finding communication solutions in every situation and leaning into profound Buddhist teachings around acceptance of what is.

Professionally Julie has been a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for almost 40 years. She specializes in functional and integrative approaches to cardiometabolic health, insulin resistance, gut health, mental health, and eating disorders. She has maintained a private practice in Santa Barbara, California, where her advanced training, clinical experience and deep empathy, shaped by her personal experiences with her own health challenges, have profoundly impacted her work with her clients. Julie has navigated her professional responsibilities using lipreading, advanced hearing technologies and a passion for helping others manage their individual health challenges using a holistic approach to psychological, spiritual, social, and biological wellness.

Julie has been married to Relly Nadler for 34 years, and together they have two grown children. As a family, they have navigated the challenges of her condition and are all fully committed to excellent communication. She is eternally grateful to them for their unending support.

One thing Julie yearned for as she started to lose more hearing as an adult was a community of people who could understand her experience and share in the challenges of her new reality. She searched for and made a few wonderful new friends along the way but her larger ability to connect with others who have similar life stories came when she joined a small group of hard of hearing and deaf adults in efforts to form a supportive community and to learn ASL together.

Julie navigates life using her remaining hearing, lipreading and all the latest technology, but the biggest improvement in her life satisfaction came when she started to open herself to learning sign language. Starting with the initial ALDA group she joined, she soon advanced to taking ASL classes at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) and continues her studies today. She has assisted in facilitating a beginning community ASL classes in Santa Barbara and hopes to continue to advocate for learning ASL as a beautiful language and as a meaningful avenue toward acceptance of becoming late deafened. Learning ASL has been transformative for Julie, enabling her to communicate more effectively at home and with friends. At home, she and her husband now utilize SimCom, a combination of sign and spoken English on a regular basis, which has significantly improved their communication and given them a shared experience of learning and practicing a new language together.

Julie’s personal experiences involving struggle and acceptance of her new reality have not only shaped her journey but also inspired others, whatever their personal struggle may be. She hopes to help you on your individual journey to living your best life in community with others who understand and can support you in your journey!

Services:

Mentorship

Public Speaking

Workplace Hearing Accessibility Consulting

Nutrition Counseling for Meniere’s Disease