Im in my mid-30s, Ive won an Oscar, I have four children. You figure out if my deafness has adversely affected my life.

What parent has it easy? I just never make the difficulty of it an obstacle. I just do it.

I was 21 years and 218 days old when I received the Academy Award for Best Actress. I had just stepped into an imaginary world that I'd seen at a distance for years.

Hollywood embraced me in the late '80s because there was a good project I was in and it was different. Nowadays, it's about corporate mentality, box office, youth.

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.

Living modestly in a suburban neighborhood while trying to support four children through private school is not extravagant or living large.

I learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I cant compare hearing aids to normal hearing.