Silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me.

I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally.

I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that's fine.

I hope that through my example, such as my role on 'The West Wing,' I can help change attitudes on deafness and prove we can really do everything... except hear.

Watch me when people say deaf and dumb, or deaf mute, and I give them a look like you might get if you called Denzel Washington the wrong name.

I guess not being able to hear just made me adventurous and daring. And in most cases, that didn't make my parents very happy with me.

I'm the only one in my family who is deaf, and there are still conversations that go around me that I miss out on. And I ask what's going on, and I have to ask to be included. But I'm not going to be sad about it. I don't live in sad isolation. It's just a situation I'm used to.