Maggie Woods's Introduction

Hi! My name is Maggie Woods. I'm a freshman who is majoring in DHH Elementary Education from Georgetown, Kentucky. When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with an ear tumor that left me moderately to severely hard of hearing in both of my ears. I was raised by a hearing family in a hearing world so I didn't have much exposure to anyone who was going through the same things that I was and I always saw my disability as something negative. During my high school years, my mother suggested that we go to a convention for those who were D/deaf and hard of hearing. I met so many people who understood my story and what it felt like to go through the same things I'd gone through. I finally felt like I wasn't alone and realized that my disability wasn't something to be ashamed of, but rather embraced. Since then, I have tried to find more ways to interact with the community. I'm taking this class and this major so that one day I could hopefully teach at a school for the deaf and help students understand that being deaf or hard of hearing is not something to be ashamed of.