I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations.
Marlee MatlinRead
The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind.
Interpretation
Deafness is a physical condition, but the real limitation lies in how we perceive and respond to it mentally.
Marlee Matlin's quote emphasizes that the challenges faced by individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are not solely due to their hearing loss, but significantly influenced by societal perceptions and attitudes. It suggests that overcoming barriers relies more on mindset and acceptance rather than physical capabilities, encouraging a broader understanding of disability and empowerment.
In practice
In a workshop about overcoming personal challenges, one might say this quote to inspire participants.
I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations.
I'm a proud person who happens to be deaf. I don't want to change it. I don't want to wake up and suddenly say, 'Oh my God, I can hear.' That's not my dream. It's not my dream. I've been raised deaf. I'm used to the way I am. I don't want to change it. Why would I ever want to change? Because I'm used to this, I'm happy.
It was ability that mattered, not disability, which is a word I'm not crazy about using.
The only thing I can't do is hear. I can drive, I have a life with four kids, I work on TV, I do movies, so the deafness question, is it that they want to know because, what? Not sure.
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 βhiβ to everyone, whether they knew me or not.
When I was 11, I knew that I wanted to write a kid's book and tell the world what it was like being deaf.
I did not seek to sell U.S. secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice.
When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, and to compare what people were subjected to there to what happened in Philadelphia - which was inappropriate, certainly that . . . to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line, who risked all, for my people.
He who is silent and bows his head dies every time he does so. He who speaks aloud and walks with his head held high dies only once.
It takes courage to die for a cause, but also to live for one.
An authentic faith always implies a deep desire to change the world.
If a piece of knotted string can unleash the wind, and if a drowned man can awaken, then I believe a broken man can heal.
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