Silence Is The Last Thing The World

When I Was 13, I Told Henry Winkler I Wanted To Act. He Said, Do It And Don't Let Anyone Stand In Your Way. His Validation Just Made It All The More True. I Haven't Stopped Thanking Him Since.

I Grew Up In The Suburbs Of Chicago, And In Spite Of What Most People Might Have Expected From A Young Girl Growing Up Deaf, Life For Me Was Like One Long Episode Of The Brady Bunch. Despite Whatever Barriers Were In My Way, I Imagined Myself As Marcia Brady Skating Down The Street Saying “hi” To Everyone, Whether They Knew Me Or Not.

During A Visit To California, When A Friend Of My Grandmother's Told My Parents That I Must Be Deaf Because I Was Not Responding To Sounds, My Father Was Absolutely Convinced That I Was Simply Being Stubborn.

Every One Of Us Is Different In Some Way, But For Those Of Us Who Are More Different, We Have To Put More Effort Into Convincing The Less Different That We Can Do The Same Thing They Can, Just Differently.

I Learned To Speak First, And Then To Sign. I Have Never Really Known What It Was Like To Hear, So I Cant Compare Hearing Aids To Normal Hearing.