Deaf people push for better representation on TV, including more of a focus on those who don't use sign language

The New York Times

The current Bachelor season features a deaf contestant, Abigail Heringer, who is believed to be the first deaf contestant and cochlear-implant wearer on the show. When Deaf U star Rodney Burford was shown communicating thanks to his cochlear implants, he says it made a profound difference for deaf children watching at home. “I have not seen really any perfect representation of my type of deafness” on TV, adds Alexandra Dean Grossi, who received a diagnosis of profound hearing loss at age 2 and wore hearing aids before switching to cochlear implants as a teenager and never learned to sign. When Rossi, who has worked as production assistant and junior writer in Hollywood, pitched a show about deaf people, she was told the deaf character wasn't deaf enough. “And I’m like, that’s the whole point,” Grossi said. “You know, there’s so much nuance that you’re missing.”