Stephen Colbert: Deaf since Childhood

Stephen Colbert, best known for his show The Colbert Report (2005-2014) and now his program The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (beg. 2015), is looked to for his satire and humor regarding news, politics, etc.

If anyone has ever watched his shows, you would most likely think he has always been a comedian and this career was made for him. However, when he was younger, he dreamed of being a marine biologist. A procedure, though, when he was little, left him with no ear drum. Because of this, he cannot emerge his ear in water for long periods of time and certainly cannot scuba dive. This procedure also left him completely deaf in his right ear.

He has been pretty quiet about his hearing loss even though he has dealt with it all his life. This could be that he doesn’t want to define him as a person and TV person. He does very well “hiding” it and carrying on normal conversations with others. He does though, know how to laugh at himself! Check out the video below!

It's important to be able to find humor in any situation. One thing I love about Colbert's story is that he did have to give up something he wanted to do because of his hearing impairment. So often, people will say, "you can do anything. Don't let your disability define you." While they have a point, sometimes you just have to face the facts that you can't do everything. And that's okay.