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Chattanooga Times Free Press | Breaking barriers: Actress Matlin inspires UTC crowd
Marlee Matlin, who broke barriers in Hollywood after being the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award, challenged an audience at UTC on Monday to face their disabilities with courage and a little humor.
"I was deaf at 18 months old, and every day for me was far from tragic," said Ms. Matlin, who signed her speech and used an interpreter. "I was the deaf Marcia Brady. ... When people made fun of my hearing aid, I told them it was a big blob of bubble gum. 'Want a piece?'"
Ms. Matlin, who has appeared in deaf roles on popular television series such as "Spin City," "Desperate Housewives," "My Name is Earl," "Seinfeld" and "The West Wing," was brought to campus by the UTC Office for Students with Disabilities as part of Disability Awareness Month.
More than 300 community members, college students and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga staff attended the presentation at the UTC Fine Arts Center.
"She inspired me because when she talked about growing up deaf, it was like how I felt when I was young," said Marc Brewton, president of the Chattanooga chapter of the Tennessee Association of the Deaf, who attended the event with his 9-year-old son, Max, who is not deaf.
Ms. Matlin, who grew up near Chicago, was encouraged to begin acting at age 7 by her mother, who she said never treated her daughter with kid gloves because she was deaf.
Her parents refused to send her away to a special school to learn how to live without her hearing, Ms Matlin said. Instead, they chose to "mainstream" her and treated her like any child.
"For my parents it was just common sense," she said. "Yes, it was difficult and sometimes people are cruel."
When she was 21 years old, she won an Academy Award for best actress for her role in the 1986 film, "Children of a Lesser God," but the award was tainted, she said, when critics and other actors said she had received the award because of a pity vote.
After watching people downplay her performance and attempt to define her by her disability, she said she learned to ignore the naysayers and focus on her dream of acting.
"People said my career was dead on arrival," she said. "I shouldn't have been afraid of Hollywood because, in the end, Hollywood was just like high school."
Over the years, she learned that being deaf can only cut you off from relationships and aspirations if you let it.
"I relish the challenges I face every day," she said. "The real handicap of the deaf lies not in the ear but in the mind."
B'Linda Dance, a UTC graduate and president of the Tennessee Association of the Deaf, said she was excited to see Ms. Matlin speak because she is so positive about her disability and has accomplished so much in the face of challenge.
"I have a lot of respect for her," said Ms. Dance, who spoke using sign language and an interpreter. "She doesn't worry what people think. If you don't risk there's no gain."
Unlike Ms. Matlin, many deaf children grow up overprotected and isolated by fearful parents and struggle to find their place, said Ms. Dance, who works as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.
"Being deaf is not an easy experience," she said. "(Parents) have to let them go. You have to have faith. You have to let the shame go."
Marlee Matlin, who broke barriers in Hollywood after being the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award, challenged an audience at UTC on Monday to face their disabilities with courage and a little humor.
"I was deaf at 18 months old, and every day for me was far from tragic," said Ms. Matlin, who signed her speech and used an interpreter. "I was the deaf Marcia Brady. ... When people made fun of my hearing aid, I told them it was a big blob of bubble gum. 'Want a piece?'"
Ms. Matlin, who has appeared in deaf roles on popular television series such as "Spin City," "Desperate Housewives," "My Name is Earl," "Seinfeld" and "The West Wing," was brought to campus by the UTC Office for Students with Disabilities as part of Disability Awareness Month.
More than 300 community members, college students and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga staff attended the presentation at the UTC Fine Arts Center.
"She inspired me because when she talked about growing up deaf, it was like how I felt when I was young," said Marc Brewton, president of the Chattanooga chapter of the Tennessee Association of the Deaf, who attended the event with his 9-year-old son, Max, who is not deaf.
Ms. Matlin, who grew up near Chicago, was encouraged to begin acting at age 7 by her mother, who she said never treated her daughter with kid gloves because she was deaf.
Her parents refused to send her away to a special school to learn how to live without her hearing, Ms Matlin said. Instead, they chose to "mainstream" her and treated her like any child.
"For my parents it was just common sense," she said. "Yes, it was difficult and sometimes people are cruel."
When she was 21 years old, she won an Academy Award for best actress for her role in the 1986 film, "Children of a Lesser God," but the award was tainted, she said, when critics and other actors said she had received the award because of a pity vote.
After watching people downplay her performance and attempt to define her by her disability, she said she learned to ignore the naysayers and focus on her dream of acting.
"People said my career was dead on arrival," she said. "I shouldn't have been afraid of Hollywood because, in the end, Hollywood was just like high school."
Over the years, she learned that being deaf can only cut you off from relationships and aspirations if you let it.
"I relish the challenges I face every day," she said. "The real handicap of the deaf lies not in the ear but in the mind."
B'Linda Dance, a UTC graduate and president of the Tennessee Association of the Deaf, said she was excited to see Ms. Matlin speak because she is so positive about her disability and has accomplished so much in the face of challenge.
"I have a lot of respect for her," said Ms. Dance, who spoke using sign language and an interpreter. "She doesn't worry what people think. If you don't risk there's no gain."
Unlike Ms. Matlin, many deaf children grow up overprotected and isolated by fearful parents and struggle to find their place, said Ms. Dance, who works as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.
"Being deaf is not an easy experience," she said. "(Parents) have to let them go. You have to have faith. You have to let the shame go."
