STUDENT TEACHER, MAGGIE GRAYSON

magdeline amelia grayson

There wasn't much notable about Maggie when she was born. Her parents were your average middle class couple of Newport, Maine who were ready to start a family in their late twenties after having been together for just over six years. Health wise, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Grayson's beautiful baby girl, Magdeline. Well, besides being profoundly deaf. It had turned out that the structures in her inner ear did not form correctly during development, due to chance genetics. While cochlear implants were an option, after much heated debate, Maggie's parents declined. They decided that they would give Maggie the choice later on in her life if she wanted to hear and learned sign language so they could teach her how to communicate.

But learning sign language was the least of the Grayson's problems. They had no idea what to do when raising their deaf child. They read every book they could get their hands on, they found support with other parents of deaf children, but they still constantly fought and argued on what was the right thing to do. Maggie's father was adamant that their daughter should be given a choice instead of having cochlear implants used as a solution from the start whereas her mother was upset they had chosen to keep her in silence and insisted it would have been easier to raise her if she hadn't been deaf. Maggie on the other hand, never heard them argue. Though, that wasn't to say she was in the dark either. When she snuck out of her room past her bed time because she wasn't sleepy, she walked in on her parents fighting.

Her mother signed, "do you want to hear?" in hopes of proving her point but Maggie, having seen nothing wrong with herself and not being able to hear simply signed in response, "No. But can I have some warm soy milk?" At the time Maggie didn't understand why her mother nearly broke the glass while she warmed up the soy milk but once she did it became one of her biggest regrets. It was pretty much the beginning of the end. The next morning, they started over fresh, but it always seemed like her parents could never agree. Whether it was public education or home school, what extracurricular activities she should do or even non hearing related situations like how to cut her hair or what toys to play with Maggie's parents could never find common ground on much of anything. Shortly after the girl entered Kindergarten, Maggie's parents began divorce proceedings.

It soon became a competition between parents to try and get custody of Maggie. They both thought they were right and were unwilling to compromise. During the proceedings, they both tried to win Mag's affection in hopes that she would choose to be with them. She was promised toys, fed her favorite foods and treats and got anything she wanted. Maggie had little idea of why they were doing this, but she relished every moment of it. Finally, as the divorce started to wrap up a few months later and custody was being determined, her parents explained the situation to the girl, and after lots of tears and questions Maggie decided she didn't want her parents to separate, she wanted them to stay together and couldn't decide who she wanted to go with.

The judge took it as being indifferent and decided to let her live with her father, with generous visitation with her mother on the basis that her father was the main breadwinner of the family and had greater patience with his disabled daughter. Whereas her mother wanted to change the fact that Maggie was deaf, her father was willing to accept her as she was. He didn't view his daughter as imperfect or flawed and allowed Maggie explore her interests freely, and found creative ways to make sure her hearing impairment never got in the way.

After the divorce was finalized, her father decided to get a fresh start and move. Because of the distance, Maggie rarely got to see her mother outside of holidays despite the generous visitations rights. They both moved on, her mother remarried and had a normal child who Maggie envied. Eventually, her father puller her out of her self loathing, and assured her that she was just as good as her step sibling. Still, the girl would always feel guilty for their divorce because she felt like she caused it. For the most part, Maggie led a fairly normal childhood. Despite not going to a public school, her home school education was rigorous and just as enriching as a public education, and perhaps even more effective because it was tailored exactly to her needs. In the evenings, after her school work was done she would play with the kids in her neighborhood. For the most part, they were understanding, learned bits and pieces of sign language and played games with her that weren't reliant on heavy communication like tag, hopscotch, races and select board games.

Still, she wasn't totally immune to a fair share of teasing either. Less understanding kids would tease her by yelling and shouting in her ears, throw things at her then say they had tried to tell her to duck or other childish bullying. Maggie began to realize she was different, and unlike how her father treated her, she was often viewed as deficient and disabled by the world around her. Her dad would try and pick her back up and encourage her every time she got knocked down but after being pushed so many times Maggie began to recluse herself more and more. She did not want to be around anyone because they would treat her like she was stupid. She was deaf, not retarded! In her extended period of self pity, Maggie decided that more than ever she wanted to be normal. She now wished she hadn't wanted a glass of warm soy milk instead of hearing when her mother asked as a child. Maggie started researching cochlear implants, desperate to be accepted and for people to see her as she saw herself, a normal girl.

When she brought it up with her dad, he was totally compliant with her. He was willing to support her if she wanted to get cochlear implants and told her that he had saved money for the surgery if the day ever came that she wanted them. After several appointments, the girl was all set to get cochlear implants, but she changed her mind last minute. Deafness was a part of her identity, what would she do without it? Maggie decided that she was trying to take the easy way out, and instead dreamed of the day where her hearing impairment wasn't to be considered a disability. To this day, she views herself as normal. Maggie ignores people who try and treat her as fragile or disabled because she doesn't view herself as such.

As the girl grew older, she continued to stay fairly secluded, unable to communicate well with most people her age because of her deafness. Though, she found solace in the internet and being able to communicate with other people through text and not the glorified game of charades of ASL that so few people seemed to understand. The girl couldn't bring herself to be unhappy about the circumstance of being deaf however. She eventually approached her last year of high school but spent many of those days wondering what she wanted to do with her life. She was going to be an adult soon, which meant she had to decide on a career, but unlike her dreamy, idealistic world, the reality was that she was a pariah of society and was viewed to have little to offer.

Frustrated and confused, Maggie turned to the only person who treated her like a normal human being, her father. After several long signed conversations about her future, the girl decided to go to college knowing the money used for her education was coming from the possible cochlear implants savings her father had kept lying around. Her father also helped Maggie decide on majoring in education. After she had vented her frustrations with being treated like she was stupid because of her condition, her father suggested education because if Maggie so dearly wanted to change peoples perceptions on deaf people like herself, she could do so by teaching students and proving that even with her disabilities that she was still just as good as any other teacher.

Majoring in education with a focus in mathematics the girl entered college and was met with a challenge of a lifetime. College was hard, and it was certainly not made any easier because of her deafness. During college, Maggie also underwent intensive speech training and eventually learned how to speak despite not being able to hear her own voice. She still makes hiccups now and then, but is for the most part, completely comprehensible. Now in her final year after a pretty bumpy road, it's time for the girl to put her skills to the test and start student teaching. 


- Maggie's most prized possession is a gold, heart shaped locked adorned with a delicate emeral pattern. A gift from her father, she goes nowhere without it. 
- Despite being deaf, Maggie has 20/10 vision, or better than perfect vision.
- Her hair color isn't natural but Maggie refuses to dye it back to her natural 'normal' brown color. She dyed it as a teenager and since then decided the color suited her enough to keep it that way.
- At 6'0'' Maggie is definitely what you would consider tall. She considered elementary education but figured that would be more suited to someone not quite so big. 
- Apparently Maggie has an adorable, high pitched voice, but having no basis on what a cute voice sounds like it's not a helpful description to her.
- Maggie is starting a savings account for cochlear implants. She isn't sure if she wants them, but she wants the savings account there just in case because she still spends night awake thinking about what her life might be like if she could hear.
- Despite her best efforts, Maggie could never really learn to cook well. She once nearly set her house ablaze when a pan of hot oil caught on fire. She loves takeout Chinese food though and always orders something different.
- Maggie has developed a habit of wearing ear buds in an attempt to avoid awkward encounters with random strangers. Of course she doesn't listen to anything but sometimes she turns up music videos on her phone full blast just to feel the sound wave vibrations.