It Was My Father Who Instilled The

Differences Are Scarier Now. The Dollar Isn't So Guaranteed If You Don't Follow What They See As The Norm. But I Don't Moan About It. I Just Keep Working.

I Listen To Billy Joel. He Is Fabulous. I Saw Him With Elton John When They Toured Together, It Was So Great.

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.

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.

Watch Me When People Say Deaf And Dumb, Or Deaf Mute, And I Give Them A Look Like You Might Get If You Called Denzel Washington The Wrong Name.