Deaf Utopia: A Memoir—and a Love Letter to a Way of Life

by Nyle DiMarco

I STEPPED INTO THE ROOM, a small auditorium. In the front row, Tyra Banks and the CW executive were seated next to each other. To the right of the executive was my interpreter, Ramon. I walked over and turned to stand in front of them. I took a deep breath and began. “Hi. I’m Nyle DiMarco. I’m Deaf. My whole family—my mom, dad, and two brothers, including a twin—are Deaf. I’m the fifth generation in my family to be born Deaf. “American Sign Language is my first language. I love being Deaf. I’m proud of it. “There are ten million Deaf people in the United States; 360 million worldwide. Deaf people are also part of the disability community; there are more than fifty-five million Americans with disabilities—equal to one in every five Americans. “The world has very little idea of what Deaf people are capable of. We’re often written off without being given a real shot. We are stereotyped as helpless and less intelligent. We are denied access to education and language. We face discrimination each and every day, and we have to battle to overcome barriers all the time. “Being born to Deaf parents myself, I am in the minority. Nine out of ten Deaf children are born to hearing parents. These parents need more resources to better understand their Deaf children, and to believe that their Deaf kids have limitless potential. They need to see Deaf adult role models who show the tremendous successes that their Deaf kids can reach. “Right now, on TV, there’s so little representation of the...