Meet Amanda McDonough of Ready to be Heard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda McDonough.

When actress and author Amanda McDonough started losing her hearing at the age of 4, she swore her parents to secrecy. She hid her hearing loss for 18 years from her friends, family, teachers, and acquaintances. As Amanda grew older, her hearing gradually decreased, causing her to begin struggling in school, in her relationships with family and friends, and with her identity. By age twenty-two, she could no longer rely on her wit to hide her hearing loss. She became one hundred percent deaf in both ears. Amanda found herself unable to hear, talk, lip-read or sign. Her only method of communication with the world was through writing.

Her new book “Ready to be Heard” is the story of how Ms. McDonough (mc-duh-nuh) taught herself to lip-read and to sign. Amanda explains how she discovered a new culture, language, and most importantly, herself. In this memoir, the author narrates how she managed to finish college after becoming deaf. How she garnered straight A’s in school, entered the workforce, enjoys a successful Hollywood acting career (Freeform’s Switched at Birth, ABCs Speechless, NBC’s Bad Judge, Google, 7UP, Deaf West/ Pasadena Playhouses Our Town, etc.), fought for her independence, and found her purpose. “Ready to be Heard,” tells about the author’s inspiring journey to find a balance between the hearing world she was raised in and the Deaf culture to which she now belonged.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have overcome many obstacles with my health, in my career, and personally on my road to achieving my dreams. One struggle that stands out the most to me is my continuing need to overcome societies expectations of what I can and cannot do. Unfortunately, many people in my work life make assumptions about me and my ability to do my job based solely on my “disabled” classification. For example, I have been told many times that I will not be considered for “normal” acting roles and that I should just “accept that I will only ever play Deaf characters.” Yet, I continue to break down barriers and use my voice to educate, despite my own personal struggles.

Ready to be Heard – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am an actress, the author of the book “Ready to be Heard,” and a motivational speaker. My job is to tell stories that people can relate to and encourage them to work on becoming the best version of themselves that they can be!

I use my own life experience and the hard life lessons I learned from my hearing loss journey to inspire others to tackle their own challenges and overcome their own obstacles.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Empathy and patience are two of the qualities I have needed to rely on the most, as I have followed my dreams. As a motivational speaker, empathy allows me to connect with my audiences while I am speaking to them. As an actress, it also allows me to connect with the characters I portray so that I can bring them to life on the stage or screen.

Patience has been invaluable on my journey. Success doesn’t happen overnight and taking the time to educate Hollywood about disabilities and accurate representation in media doesn’t magically create visible change quickly either. So, patience keeps me sane. I know that if I keep working tomorrow will be a better day for everyone.