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. Despite this challenge, she did well in her academic and social pursuits, showing her resilience from a young age.

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 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 is celebrated for her strength, resilience, and excellent listening skills. These qualities have been crucial to her professional and personal life. She 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.

One thing Julie yearned for as she started to lose more hearing as an adult was a community or even a single friend 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 true ability to connect in community 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.

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) where she plans to earn an Associates Degree in ASL. She has assisted in facilitating a beginning community ASL class in Santa Barbara and hopes to continue to advocate for learning sign language as a beautiful and 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, and equally important, to move toward seeing this journey as an adventure into a new world with a beautiful language and culture. 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 sign 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 offered:

Mentorship, Public Speaking, Corporate Accessibility Consulting, Nutrition Counseling for Meniere’s Disease

Sonia Holzman