Katie LeClerc Switched at Birth
Katie LeClerc stars in the new Monday night ABC Family show, Switched At Birth. In the show she plays a deaf teenager coping with life in the hearing world. What you may not know is that Katie herself is also hard of hearing. She has Meniere's disease, an inner-ear disorder that can cause severe hearing loss over time. It is possible that her hearing may get worse as she gets older.
Q: Tell us about your character in the show.
Katie: Daphne is a normal, typical high school girl. She plays basketball on her team. She's got boyfriends. She's got good grades. And she's deaf. It was really exciting to be able to portray that. I learned sign language when I was 17. I learned it in high school. When I was 20, I found out that I had Meniere's disease and I am very, very, very fortunate that I will be able to communicate for the rest of my life, because it gets worse over time. I thought, I would not leave my daughter alone in the deaf world and not teach her. It's amazing how many parents do and because of that I learned sign language.
Q: Do you do your voice on the show?
Katie: I do speak in accents on the show. We mapped out Daphne's hearing loss and what that would mean for her accents. So I trained in dialect and worked on that very hard.
Q: Did you get any advice from [deaf actress Marlee Matlin] about Deaf culture?
Katie: I've had some great conversations with Marlee. The Deaf community has a different perspective on the world than the hearing community does and I think this show's gonna be a great bridge between the two worlds and I think we're hopefully going to be very successful with that.
Q: Did you ever feel you wanted to switch lives and not have Meniere's disease?
Katie: There are definitely symptoms and some times are harder than others but my sister's is far more progressed than mine and to see how her struggle goes and see what she does is sort of inspiring and I'm lucky 'cause I get to know what I have to look forward to so I can prepare for it. There's really nothing you can do about it so I just try to keep a positive attitude. I've acted for ten years and I've had the great opportunity to play this role. I've been very fortunate as far as this goes.
Q: Has anyone not wanted to cast you because of it?
Katie: Most people are unaware of my hearing loss.
Q: If you lose your hearing, will you still speak? Have you thought about what it would be like?
Katie: I think that I'm going to embrace the moment that I've been given right now and take it one day at a time. But I have every plan in the world to continue with my career and keep up with the good work.
I think that's good advice for anyone, no matter who you are! What do you think? Will you be watching Switched at Birth? Let us know in the Comments.
— Interview by Gerri Miller
Images courtesy of ABC Family
amazing!
Comment #51 | Posted by: amazingwolf5 on June 11, 2011 at 03:00 PM
I love this show. I watched the first episode and recorded it too. Ever since,I have watched it 3 times. I can't wait for more episodes
Comment #52 | Posted by: Noelle on June 11, 2011 at 04:09 PM
I watched the first show and i waondered if you were really deaf in real life so now i got my awnser and lets hope your ear dissorder gets better!!!:)
Comment #53 | Posted by: dancingleg3 on June 11, 2011 at 09:30 PM
Wow... One thing that's good is that she gets to be on T.V.( most of us don't!)
Comment #54 | Posted by: Playfulpig on June 12, 2011 at 09:21 AM
it is so cool x man is cooler ccccoooolll $1,000,000,000
Comment #55 | Posted by: commandercrimson1 on June 12, 2011 at 07:19 PM
I won't watch it because i am not into drama, but I do love sign language and can communicate a little.
Comment #56 | Posted by: PsychCrazy on June 12, 2011 at 10:20 PM
IDK , maybe i really dont know yet ???
Comment #57 | Posted by: emeraldbutterfly36 on June 13, 2011 at 03:22 PM
I don't really get it?why is it such a big thing
Comment #58 | Posted by: donutpoetry4 on June 14, 2011 at 09:46 AM
cool. [.;! that is a smilie face. now you have 59 comets. cooler! i'm going crazy. i think.
Comment #59 | Posted by: pinkpink237 on June 15, 2011 at 12:13 AM
awsome
Comment #60 | Posted by: marissa on June 15, 2011 at 02:09 PM
i think it will be amazing!>3
Comment #61 | Posted by: candyangel5 on June 15, 2011 at 09:42 PM
i wached one eposod all ready
Comment #62 | Posted by: alyssa on June 16, 2011 at 10:08 AM
this is awsome. im totally watching this. i hope im not switched at birth
Comment #63 | Posted by: raidertwister1 on June 16, 2011 at 07:47 PM
She's an amazing star who took a hard role to play! Way to go Katie!!!
Comment #64 | Posted by: Emma on June 17, 2011 at 07:02 PM
i didn't liked very,very much
Comment #65 | Posted by: giulia on June 17, 2011 at 11:19 PM
i love demi molina<3
Comment #66 | Posted by: c on June 18, 2011 at 01:19 PM
I love "Swiched at Birth"!
Comment #67 | Posted by: dolphinsong5 on June 18, 2011 at 03:41 PM
lov the show!
Comment #68 | Posted by: dolphinsong5 on June 18, 2011 at 09:52 PM
It sounds very inspiring!
Comment #69 | Posted by: amberelf10 on June 18, 2011 at 11:38 PM
hey how do you put a book in this blog?
Comment #70 | Posted by: catreading1 on June 19, 2011 at 09:32 AM
thats so cool!!!
Comment #71 | Posted by: syd31 on June 19, 2011 at 10:03 PM
watched the show and im in lov with it
Comment #72 | Posted by: hazeskiing2 on June 20, 2011 at 10:32 PM
I saw that on a commercial and it looked really cool.
Comment #73 | Posted by: aquaunicorn34 on June 21, 2011 at 09:08 AM
My family loves the show because one of my brothers is deaf, and then my twin is blind. But I am fine! Thank goodness. :)
Annie iPad
Comment #74 | Posted by: Annie iPad on June 21, 2011 at 12:54 PM
i will be and she is so inpireing!!
Comment #75 | Posted by: Kylie on June 21, 2011 at 04:36 PM