Research and Choose a Famous Deaf American: Linda Bove

Linda Bove
Names
Institutional affiliation Linda Bove
Thesis
She is an Italian-American (AMITA) award winner who despite the challenge of being deaf has pursued a successful professional acting career hence acting as a role model for many deaf people around the world. She has provided an inspiring story for many young people out there that they can make it regardless of the challenges they are facing in life. She has also helped put into meaning the phrase ‘disability is not inability’. She has won many awards over her acting career and is considered among the best in Hollywood. This paper will focus on her success and how she has motivated young people to work for what they believe in and never lose hope in life.
Introduction
Linda was born on 30th November 1945 in Garfield New Jersey. Both her parents were deaf, and for this reason, she was exposed to sign language at an early age. Her parents took her to St. Joseph school for the deaf in New York and graduated in 1963. She later attended Gallaudet University and graduated with a bachelor in library science. In her last year in campus, she got interested in theater and enrolled in a program in the national theater for the deaf. She is most famous for her role in the children’s television series Sesame Street which aired from 1971-2003 (Anderson, 2008). On the program, she played the significant role of introducing thousands if not millions of American children to sign language and issue affecting the deaf community as a whole. She played the role of Linda and her role broke the record for the longest-running role for a person with a disability in America. In the series, she owns a very playful dog named Barkley who many have argued was meant to attract ...