GREENSBORO, NC- It's not often you hear about a newly appointed Superintendent, who's hard of hearing.
But in Guilford County, Sharon Contreras is the new woman on the job, and has proven a hearing disability won't and can't stop anyone from reaching their goals.
In an interview shortly before news of her new position, Contreras told said, "What you cannot see by looking at me is I cannot hear you. I am reading your lips. I lost my hearing about ten years ago."
She's right. No can tell. It's one of the reasons the Griffin family is confident Contreras is right for the job.
"We are excited to see someone in this position, hopefully that will bring some light for the need for early intervention into the school system and maybe a better representation of someone who is deaf and what they need to succeed,” said Alicia Griffin
Alicia and her husband, Frank, have two beautiful daughters, Natalie and Madelyn. All four are deaf. Natalie attends school in Guilford County.
"I think looking we’re looking forward hopefully to Natalie meeting her, to see a person with hearing loss and who is deaf being able to do anything. And it’s truly inspiring to see that Dr. Contreras did not allow that experience to limit what she can do and I imagine that she did face questions from other individuals. How are you still able to do these things?" Frank signed.
Contreras doesn't speak much about her hearing loss, perhaps purposefully, as to not let anyone question her ability or see her differently. She only said she suffers from severe and profound hearing loss and refused to let the physical disability stand in her way.
Frank said, “What deaf people go through every day, we’re used to that. Can you do this, can you do that? And, yes, of course we can do that. But, we often have to tell them and even show them that we can do certain things.”
Although he is deaf, Frank said it doesn’t define him or his children. They communicate just like anyone else, work like anyone else and enjoy life, as everyone should.
"Look at what we can do. We don't need to talk about that. Yes, we are deaf, that's who we are but there's so much more that goes with that.”
The Griffins say they hope Contreras will bring light to the need of early intervention is the school system when it comes to deaf children. They said often times deaf children are deprived of language early on- and they hope she will make sure every child has what they need to succeed.