When I was in high school, I knew of another person who was deaf and a cheerleader at another public high school. The local newspaper wrote an article about her. What is she doing today? She is a lawyer in LA. Cool, eh? Aside from lawyer jokes, of course.
Reading Deaf cheerleader Krystal Delacruz keeps the beat reminds me of my high school years. The kinds of comments her mom made were what you would hear from my parents. My dad always told my teachers, “Other than ensuring she sits where she can read your lips, don’t treat Meryl differently.”
I didn’t know this till after I moved out on my own. I try to live life like that… do what I need to do to adapt and not be treated differently. I admit I got the easy way out a few times in life. Once when I was going on a business trip, I told the airline employee to let me know when they call my row so I can line up. She was nice and told me to go with the first group. It makes it a lot easier than sitting around hoping the employee remembered me.