Senior Raquel Gleicher was immersed in the Deaf community and became fluent in American Sign Language before the age of two. But Raquel is not Deaf. She was, how ever, born into an entirely Deaf family.

Both of Raquel’s parents are Deaf, as well as her two older sisters, Chanel (who was Miss Deaf America) and Nicole. Her younger sister, sophomore Jac lyn, is Hard of Hearing. When Raquel was born, her parents thought she was going to be Deaf as well. They did not expect to have a hearing child and Raquel’s failed hearing tests affirmed their expectations.

It turned out the reason Raquel was failing the tests was be cause she had too much fluid in her ears. At around five months old, her father Robert noticed that she responded to noise.

Raquel would turn her head when things fell. Her father also recognized that she had the cry of a hear ing person, not what he knew as a Deaf cry. At this point, Raquel’s parents knew that she could hear something, but were unsure if she was fully hearing or Hard of Hearing.

Raquel’s parents had her take a BAER test, a hearing test for ba bies. The results showed that contrary to her family his tory, she could hear.

“All I cared about was having a healthy baby,” Raquel’s mother Barbara Oa��Connor said. “Whether she was hearing or Deaf, it didn’t matter to me.”

Being the only hearing person in her family required adjustments. Raquel was in ESOL until fifth grade and speech classes until seventh.

“I had to adjust to being in a hearing community and living with a deaf family a�� since I’ve only lived with deaf people, I have deaf mannerisms,” Raquel said. “I would stomp, talk loud and have vivid facial expressions … I would yell when people talked to me.”

Raquel has grown up embracing Deaf culture. She became part of Kids Of Deaf Adults (KODA), combining her two worlds. She has been attending KODA events since elementary school. There, she interacts with other KODAs who share her background. She has made many friends through KODA, including Rosemary Jones, a junior at Clarks burg HS.

“Having another KODA in my life made everything growing up so much more enjoyable,” Jones said. “We could sit and talk about having deaf parents. The bond we share is unexplainable.”

This past summer, Raquel attended Camp Mark 7, a KODA Camp in Old Forge, N.Y.

“It was nice being able to connect and being able to skip the awkward part where you have to tell people about your Deaf family,” Raquel said.

In the future, Raquel plans to stay immersed in Deaf culture, which has always been a part of her, by working as an ASL interpreter.