Heather Whitestone

“And the new Miss America 1995, Miss Alabama, Heather Whitestone!” Those are the words Regis Philbin said at the Miss America pageant in 1995 announcing the winner. But this winner had something more unique about her than a usual beauty contestant- she was deaf. In one instant, Heather Whitestone made history and became the first deaf Miss America. Not only that, she became the first woman to win Miss America with any type of disability. But there is so much more to her than the fact that she is deaf. Heather was born on February 24th, 1973. She was not born deaf. As like many deaf people who become deaf because of a sickness, Heather became deaf due to the flu when she was a little over a year old. There are two types of deaf parents. One type wants their child to embrace being deaf and learn sign language. The second type wants to help their child be as “normal” as possible and has them learn to speak. Heather’s mother was the second type and had Heather learn to talk. American Sign Language was not used by Heather until her last year of high school. Heather did not want her disability to hold her back. She was a student at a public school…

The musical I went to was “Heathers; The Musical”, lyrics and music by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe. Which is about a high school girl named Veronica Sawyer who was nobody until one day, three of the popular girls at her high school decided to she would fit perfect with them. Funny thing was that they were all named Heather. After being whisked away from her boring life and put into the Heather click, she meets a boy named JD who she falls in love with. Veronica, later in the year,…

Option 1 The Ohio State University performed a production of Heathers: The Musical by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy in April 2017. This production sent out the message that the need to feel accepted and loved can lead people to do things that they never thought they were capable of and/or never wanted to do all while not allowing themselves to be loved by those who do and instead feeling isolated. But, when vulnerable and willing to be helped and help others can people overcome the need and…

1. Who did you choose? Why did you choose this Deaf person? Was there something unique about this person that made you want to read about him/her right away? I chose Miss America 1995, Heather Whitestone, from deafpeople.com. The reason why I chose this Dead person is because she participated in a pageant and became Miss America in 1995. She was the first deaf woman to be crowned. She was a role model for girls who were Deaf and encourage them with her motivation. Yes, there was someone unique…

people in the Deaf community. They are people with dreams, aspirations, and knowledge just like anyone else, and just like anyone else, they want to share their experiences and knowledge with the people around them. The author wants people to look past our differences and see that we are all the same. -The author alludes to people in the Deaf community being treated differently for being Deaf. That even though Deaf individuals are just as capable as anyone else they are often not looked at that…