Meet Grace.
Hello, My name is Grace! I’m profoundly deaf and a bilateral cochlear implant user. I was raised as an oralist since my American family adopted me. I frequently use spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) throughout my life to communicate with Deaf/hard-of-hearing and hearing individuals.
In 2001, I was born in China and was a healthy infant until my biological parents discovered I possessed a congenital disability. At age one, I was abandoned by my biological parents in Shanghai due to a lack of providing for my needs, while I had severe hearing loss. Police officers came upon me alone on the street and brought me to an orphanage in Shanghai, China, where I spent a few years.
The greatest miracle was that my American parents flew to China to adopt me, knowing I had hearing loss. As my parents brought me to my new home in America, they provided hearing aids for me. However, they worked well for only a year. My hearing loss became severe. My parents took me back to the ENT doctor to check my hearing. He ordered the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test, which indicated that I was profoundly deaf.
At the age of four, I received my first cochlear implant on my left side and received another one for my right side two years later. I attended auditory-verbal therapy once a week for five years to learn to listen with cochlear implants properly and improve my speech. My mother and I did "play therapy" daily during that time. It took me a while to put words together. I didn't speak my first complete sentence until I was eight years old! I am humbly grateful to have amazing people in life. Without them, my life would be much different now.
As a deaf person with cochlear implants, I attended a public elementary school with a deaf program for the first time—I was homeschooled by my parents, and also attended a private school for a year as a second-grade student. I quickly hit off with new friends; however, I had trouble listening to and understanding lessons in the classroom, especially with my hearing friends amidst the background noise.
My parents finally realized how much I needed ASL, so I decided to start homeschooling again in middle school, and received an ASL tutor until I was fluent in ASL. ASL is an ultimate life-changing moment in my life, and I strongly desired to learn about Deaf culture and get involved in the Deaf community. I attended a church that had a small deaf program and began to make meaningful connections. Throughout my life, I have attended a few Deaf camps, conferences, and Deaf/ASL social events. This was a huge blessing to me to learn about Deaf culture and have access to the Deaf community. That is the story of how I found my Deaf identity. I am, no doubt, proud to be deaf.
While learning ASL in middle school, I was curious about what it is like to interact with the Deaf community and understand their perspectives. After having that experience myself, it has dramatically impacted my life. I have learned that many hearing individuals have discriminated against the d/Deaf community due to their inability to create accessible situations. The two major problems I’ve encountered are communication barriers between d/Deaf and hearing individuals, and the lack of accessibility/accommodations for d/Deaf individuals. This looks like the use of sign language interpreters, closed captioning, and much more. My passion for Deaf awareness is facilitating a bridge between hearing and d/Deaf people to create a more diverse and open society.
To dDeaf/Hard-of-Hearing ladies—do not doubt yourself with your hearing loss. No matter what people think of you or criticize you, be yourself. Sometimes there is no cure for your hearing loss and have to come to accept your deafness. YOU ARE A MASTERPIECE, UNIQUE, AND SUFFICIENT.
As a child, I used to doubt myself about my deafness and future, but I learned that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). This made me realize that this is who I am, and that’s when I discovered my true Deaf identity. Although one of my favorite quotes stated by King Jordan (the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University) is, “Deaf people can do anything hearing people can do except hear.” This quote has impacted my life full of comprehensibility and changed my perspective and passion. I am now blessed to be deaf and permanently appreciative of who I am.
I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read and learn about my personal experiences and how I comprehend the Deaf world. If you would like to read other testimonies like mine, make sure to follow me @grace.forsberg and @forthedeafgirl on Instagram!
