Rashida Abedi

Rashida Abedi ( – 2017) was a Pakistani-British autobiographical writer, who was profoundly deaf.

Life Abedi, the daughter of a retired railwayman, was born and grew up in Quetta. After meningitis aged 14, she lost the hearing in her right ear, and specialists advised her to leave school: All my hopes were destroyed. From then on my life was confined to the house. Most of the time was spent helping my mother, and I also used to knit, do embroidery and read books. We had a radio and my favourite hobby was listening to radio plays in Urdu. A campaigning group, Friends of Rashida Abedi, also raised the profile of her case.

Abedi wrote her autobiography to inspire others to overcome similar problems. She died of cancer in 2017, aged 65.

Works From Sound to Silence, 1988. Āvāz se Khāmoshī tak, 1990.