The Official News Source of Weatherford High School and Home of Roo Student Media

WHS GrassBurr

The Official News Source of Weatherford High School and Home of Roo Student Media

WHS GrassBurr

The Official News Source of Weatherford High School and Home of Roo Student Media

WHS GrassBurr

A Deaf Woman’s Perspective

A Deaf Womans Perspective

In today’s society, people who have long been thought inferior because of their differences have fought hard to achieve acceptance and equality. In Weatherford ISD, Melissa Harward is an outstanding example of determination and resilience.

Harward was born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised by her, “two wonderful adoptive parents.” Her mother suspected a hearing deficiency; many months later, doctor visits confirmed she was deaf in both ears. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states about two to three out of every 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with a detectable level of hearing loss. She received hearing aids to help, but there were still many struggles in her daily life.

She began at Crockett Elementary at three years old; she often relied on watching and copying the actions of other children, so her teachers assumed she knew what was going on. One tool that really helped her was attending speech therapy.

Harward said, “Speech therapy really did change my life and really helped me improved my speech so that I can communicate with hearing classmates and my hearing family.”

Harward also achieved huge accomplishments when she was a lieutenant for the Blue Belles her junior and senior years. This coveted position requires a difficult tryout process as lieutenants act as leaders of the team. She remembers she was very happy to have interpreters for practices, and also that “me and the interpreter had taught sign language to the Blue Belles so we can communicate better without an interpreter at the football games.”

She looks back on her Belle years fondly, and said, “Being in the Blue Belles had help increased my self confidence and self worth. I don’t allow my deafness to stop me from doing what I love which is dancing.”

These accomplishments did not come easy though; she faced many challenges that she has been able to overcome.

Harward said, “I had people bully me because I am deaf and I just learned to ignore them. My parents were the main reason why I was able to keep my chin up and not allow people bully me to bring me down. The other challenge I faced was to accept myself as a deaf person. I used to pretend that I don’t have a hearing problem and trying to pretend to be somebody I am not. Being in Blue Belles helped me to accept who I am and also helped me to to start being proud of myself that I am the first deaf person to make line officer.”

Harward has done well in her adult life as well as her career. She considers herself lucky that at her job at an airport company in Mineral Wells, her boss was very patient and understanding.

She said, “Not many people would have a lot of patience when it comes to working with deaf people. It’s sad but true for most deaf people. I just learned to deal with it and do the best I can as time goes by. That’s how I overcome it. I just don’t allow people to walk all over me and stand up strong.”

It is heartbreaking how many people are unaccepting of or uneducated about the deaf community, especially considering the magnitude it takes on our nation. In Texas alone, the deaf population totals nearly 16 million people.

In college, Harward received an Associate degree for Administrative Assistant from Weatherford College. She originally wanted to be a Deaf Ed teacher until she realized the struggles that come up through the things she saw that made her uncomfortable, such as deaf students being sent to class without a proper interpreter. Until she can find an opening as an administrative assistant , she is working as a communication assistant (CA) at WHS.

Kristal Bullock, Program Assistant for the Brazos River Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (BRRDSPD), states that “Communication assistants are in place to check for understanding. Maybe [the student] needs a little extra help by signing it or just making sure they understand the vocabulary being spoken in class.” Bullock said that the BRRDSPD has around “twelve full time communication assistants.”

Harward enjoys being a CA, and said that since working with WISD, she has noticed “deaf education has gotten so much better and finally meets deaf students needs… and now everyone knows and understands better about the deaf itself and received more education about the deaf. I am finally in comfort zone where I should be and still enjoy being CA.”

Harward is now considering going back to school again to become an ASL teacher or a Dars counselor. She proved through her commitment and perseverance that there is nothing that she will ever let limit herself. She serves as an inspiration to all people, deaf and hearing alike, to show who you truly are and never let anything hold you back. Just by living her everyday life, Harward is a driving force in the movement for total equality.

Melissa Harward is a Communication Assistant for Weatherford ISD. She has been deaf since she was a child. She attended Weatherford High School and was a Blue Belle lieutenant for two years.

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A Deaf Woman’s Perspective