ipl-logo

Heather Whitestone's Disability

780 Words4 Pages

As a profoundly deaf women, my experiences have shown me that the impossible is indeed possible (AZ Quotes). Those words were spoken by someone who broke barriers and changed the face of the pageant industry. Heather Whitestone is Miss America’s first winner with a disability (Miss America). Encountering numerous challenges, Whitestone fought through the pain and found her strength.
Heather Whitestone was born on February 24, 1973 in Dothan, a small town in Alabama (Deaf Is… Culture). At the age of 18 months, Whitestone sadly lost her hearing (Premiere Speakers Bureau). She attended public school without any help from an interpreter, until the age of 12 (Premiere Speakers Bureau). She was enrolled in the Central Institute of the Deaf in St. …show more content…

Previously stated, Whitestone lost her hearing at the age of 18 months, due to either the virus, Haemophilus influenzae or the antibiotics used to cure the virus (Premiere Speakers Bureau). …show more content…

Following Heather Whitestone’s winning of Miss America, she joined several organizations and became a spokeswoman for a few of them to promote deaf awareness (Deaf Is… Culture). The National Council on Disability and the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education are two of the few organizations she has served on (Very Well). Moreover, Whitestone started her own program, STARS, an acronym for, Success Through Action and Realization of your DreamS (Premiere Speakers Bureau). Within the program, there are five points that she believes are necessary for achieving success. The five points are, having an encouraging attitude, believing in one’s dreams, be willingly to work diligently, facing one’s obstacles and to build a support team (Premiere Speakers Bureau). Besides starting her own program, she written and published several books. In 1997, she released her first book titled, Listening With My Heart (Premiere Speakers Bureau). Later on in 1999, she released her second book, Believing The Print (Premiere Speakers Bureau). She also made several appearances on magazines and numerous deaf media outlets such as, Ability magazine to help raise awareness among the hearing-impaired community (Very

Show More
Related

  • The Use Of Cochlear Implants In True Biz By Sara Polish

    531 Words  | 3 Pages

    So Yeon Kim, Dr. Min Bum Kim, and Dr. Won-ho Chung, over 18 years (2001-2019), 4.6 percent (43 out of 925) of patients with cochlear implants experienced failure of the devices of some kind. In other words, more than 95 percent of the devices are successful in the long run. This information makes the lack of a main character with a successful implant all the more confusing. Nović has, in failing to include a character like this, created a one-sided depiction of the Deaf community without much of the nuance surrounding this complicated issue. The undue focus on implant failure, the most glaring example of which is when Charlie’s implant fails on stage, causing her to feel like “her mouth was cottony thick, jaw tight” and like "her body was a hummingbirds thrum” (320).

    Read More

  • Heather Whitestone Mccallum Thesis

    627 Words  | 3 Pages

    She was only hours away from death when she received the medicine that saved her life. After she became deaf, her mother was determined for her daughter to learn to speak and enrolled Heather in dance

    Read More

  • A Short Note On Mairs

    818 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine you’re a normal person, just living life going through the motions of your average uneventful day. It’s not hard to picture – it’s how most of us live. You’re simply going to school or your job, maybe out for a drink or two – like everyone else – but then unexpectedly someone stops and tells you how brave you are for it, that you’ve inspired them. Weird, right? You haven’t done anything exciting, doing your usual daily routine.

    Read More

  • Traumatic Brain Injury In In Search Of Wings, By Beverly Bryant

    1958 Words  | 8 Pages

    Another interest Hilary has developed is being a guest speaker at colleges and special events. She believes that sharing her experience of acquiring a disability will help others in various ways. “I want to give back to the world. Not only do I want to help others gain hope in accepting who they are, but I want to help people understand what it is truly like having this disability,” Hilary

    Read More

  • Marlee Matlin Research Paper Outline

    782 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marlee Matlin was diagnosed as deaf when she was young. She did not let the stop her from being the same as everyone else. She said I wouldn't change being deaf for anything. She loved acting; she was in many plays as a child. She started her acting career at the age of 7 years old.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Identity In Willy Conley's Play 'Falling On Hearing Eyes'

    952 Words  | 4 Pages

    It’s sad because Deaf people are just as smart but just because they don’t have confidence with their speech they can sometimes be looked down on by hearing people. This topic also strengths their love for ASL because it’s a since of pride and people are able to communicate with that just as

    Read More

  • Adversity In The Scarlet Ibis

    994 Words  | 4 Pages

    NO matter how much of a pain it was for her, she kept going and don 't’ give up. Persistence may be difficult at the time to accomplish, but in the end it pays off. After Aimee Mullins had gone through what she did, she was still disabled but it wasn’t difficult for her to do what everyone else could do. This experience for her not only taught her hat she was very persistant and a hard worker, but also taught her that it didn’t matter whether or not she was disabled or not, she could do whatever she wanted to as long as you keep trying to achieve your

    Read More

  • Audism Movie Analysis

    821 Words  | 4 Pages

    For instance, in the movie, one deaf man’s uncle took him to a Zulu medicine man to be cured. When the nephew chuckled he was pinched and reprimanded, and when the procedure didn’t work, the uncle blamed the child and told him that the reason the treatment didn’t work was his fault because he laughed. This obviously scared the child for life, because he is now a man and is recounting the story with sadness. Some parents don’t accept the deafness of their children and treat them like they need to be fixed. Redundant ear surgeries, chemicals aimed at the ear via the nasal cavity, and cumbersome hearing aids that were bothersome to the child are some of the futile attempts to fix deaf children.

    Read More

  • Sharon M. Draper's Out Of My Mind

    1157 Words  | 5 Pages

    The book Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, shares the story of Melody, a girl who is much more than her cerebral palsy: she is brilliant.

    Read More

  • The Deaf President Now Movement (DPN) Movement

    789 Words  | 4 Pages

    As outlined by DF Armstrong in Sign Language Studies, the movement helped to bring a new level of visibility to the Deaf community, and was the first time that Deaf people had asserted their rights in a powerful and unified way (Armstrong, 2014). The movement was successful in that it brought about the election of the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University, and it was also an important sign of progress in that it demonstrated the power of Deaf people working together to bring about change. It also brought attention to the need for greater representation of Deaf people in higher education and other areas of society. Overall, the DPN movement was a hugely impactful event that has had long-term repercussions for the Deaf community, and has helped to create a stronger sense of Deaf identity and

    Read More

  • African American Education

    1360 Words  | 6 Pages

    She is the first Black Deaf woman in America to become an attorney. She recently served as the Vice-President of the National Black Deaf Advocates from 2002-2005. She was also a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Federal Contracts and Compliance Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor. She later became a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland

    Read More

  • Deaf Like Me Essay

    795 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book discussed many different ways that were given to the Spradley family, but they were given with some bias. The book talked about oralism with speech therapy, hearing aids, lip reading, and sign language. Everyone determines their personal preference in how to help people who become or are born deaf, but there needs to be a consensus that every way available be told to them truthfully. Both pros and cons of each way need to be addressed to give them the full ability to choose which way they want to take. For example, the professional in the book mentioned American Sign Language but told Tom and Louise Spradley that Lynn would never learn to speak with the usage of sign language.

    Read More

  • Alandra's Lilacs Reflection On Deaf Culture

    1751 Words  | 8 Pages

    Nicole Casciola Professor Paoli Deaf Culture and Heritage February 23, 2017 Alandra’s Lilacs Reflection Imagine a life where you were unable to use the phone, had to go to school seventy miles from home, and can’t have a conversation with your elder because they didn’t take the time or effort towards learning your language. This was the life of many hard-of-hearing and deaf people during the 1960’s and earlier.

    Read More

  • Nancy Mairs Disability Analysis

    233 Words  | 1 Pages

    n Nancy Mairs essay, “Disability”, she illustrates the lack of representation of people with disabilities in the media. While disability plays a major role in Mairs’ life, she points out the various ways her everyday life is ordinary and even mundane. Despite the normalcy of the lives of citizens with disabilities Mairs argues the media’s effacement of this population, is fear driven. She claims, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about the disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life” (Mairs 14). Able bodied people worry about the prospect of eventually becoming physically impaired.

    Read More

  • Deaf Personal Statement Essay

    512 Words  | 3 Pages

    As an addition to my education background, some of my other qualification that will allow me to qualify for your program is my passion for making a difference within the deaf community. My ability to talk out about the issue surrounding the Deaf community throughout my advocacy as a …. I have gone to many events surrounding the different ways in which the Deaf community needs helps. Therefore, my well-rounded knowledge of what the deaf community wants and needs, allows me to better understand the different ways I can further help this community have a

    Read More

More about Heather Whitestone's Disability

Open Document