Nyle Dimarco: "I love being deaf."

Nyle Dimarco was born on May 8, 1989 in Queens, New York. He grew up to be a model, actor, and amateur dancer. He competed in Cycle 22 of America’s Next Top Model and Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars, coming in first place in both. He also starred in In the Can (2015) and in episodes of Switched at Birth (2014-2015).

This sounds like a typical Hollywood man who got dealt some pretty sweet cards in life, right?

Wrong.

What makes Nyle different is that he is 100% deaf and has been since birth.

He grew up in a normal neighborhood and rode bikes with his friends. However, he attended a school for the deaf. He said, “If I’d been born into a hearing family and went to a public school, I would have probably felt much more isolated, and being deaf would have become my identity. Since I knew my deaf identity since birth, it wasn’t hard for me to be comfortable, confident and independent in a hearing world.”

This is so important for those who have a hearing loss or are completely deaf. Being confident and understanding that it does not define you. Sometime it feels like hearing loss prevents you or makes it hard to do certain things. For example, it would be hard to work in medicine where many people where face masks. It would be hard to work in a library because everyone whispers. People with hearing loss are automatically denied from the military. It would be really, really, hard to dance. But, Nyle did it.

I wrote a post talking about his time on Dancing with the Stars on an older blog of mine. You can read it here.

Nyle is a great role model for everyone. He is confident and loves being deaf. He said, “I started to realize that there are a lot of people who are unaware of Deaf culture, and I’ve been given a great platform to reframe the Deaf community. I want to use my celebrity for good.”

Don’t let your hearing loss/deafness stop you from doing what you want to do. Figure out a way that works for you!