My name is Sierra Crislip. I’m an hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) survivor.
Although my HH was removed at an early age, it left me with an invisible disability. I have struggled since then with high social anxiety and a learning disability. I also experienced bullying during my school-age years which lead me to write my first book, ‘Weird Girl With a Tumor,’ which documents my life living with epilepsy, the after-effects of having HH and the bullying I experienced.
However, even with these obstacles, I have always been dedicated to always be on time and focus on my school work. Today, I still struggle with social anxiety but have learned to accept myself for who I am and find ways to power through it. As the years went on, I have gained an interest in writing. For many years, the anxiety and the associated stress felt like a balloon blowing up in my head and I didn’t have ways to fix that. So writing has been a great way for me to reduce my anxiety, especially by sharing my story and experiences.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had lots of free time to spare so I started to draw and write. I was again inspired by my experiences as a young child living with a rare brain tumor and its associated epilepsy. This became the beginning of writing my second book, ‘Tessa Teaches Kindness‘, which is geared toward young children and is focused on the importance of being kind to one another. I wanted to take this opportunity to share and teach the experience through the eyes of a child.
We can all use a kindness, especially in times like these.
Links to Sierra’s books
