Linda Bove Artis yang Tuli

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Linda Bove adalah seorang sosok yang menarik dan cukup fenomenal,
terutama bagi mereka penyandang disabilitas. Ia adalah seorang artis
Amerika yang sama sekali berbeda dengan artis lainnya karena ia
menderita cacat fisik berupa tuna rungu.

Walau begitu, gadis tuna rungu ini sukses menjadi seorang bintang dan
mengambil peran penting dalam Linda the Librarian dalam sebuah program
televisi Sesame Street mulai tahun 1971 sampai tahun 2003.
Hmm, ini adalah pencapaian yang hebat karena program ini menjadi
program terlama yang pernah ditayangkan, dan lebih uniknya lagi,
diperankan oleh seorang gadis tulis. Bisa dikatakan, hal ini adalah
pencatatan sejarah bagi dunia pertelevisian.

Ya, gadis yang dilahirkan pada 30 November 1945 di Garfield, New Jersey
ini terlahir dalam kondisi tuna rungu atau tuli. Tapi, keterbatasan
pendengaran ini bukanlah hal untuk dikeluhkan baginya. Dengan
semangat juang yang terus dijaga, ia berusaha untuk tetap berkarir dan
bisa bermanfaat bagi banyak orang lain di sekitarnya. Ia pun muncul
sebagai sosok bintang dengan karakternya yang khas. Linda Bove (born
November 30, 1945) is a deaf American actress who performed as Linda the Librarian on
the PBS children's series Sesame Street from 1971 to 2002.

Contents
[hide]

1Early life and education

2Career
o 2.1Television
2.1.1Sesame Street
o 2.2Deaf Theatre
3Filmography
 4Recognition
5References
6External links

Early life and education[edit]

Bove was born deaf in Garfield, New Jersey, to two deaf parents. As a child, she attended St.
Joseph School for the Deaf in Bronx, New York, and then Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf
in Trenton, New Jersey from which she graduated in 1963. She attended Gallaudet University for
college where she studied library science. From there, she became interested in theatre. She
participated in several theatrical productions at Gallaudet including The Threepenny Opera and
poetic characterizations of the Spoon River Anthology. In her senior year at Gallaudet University,
she studied in a Summer School Program at the National Theater for the Deaf.
In 1970, Bove married Ed Waterstreet, another deaf actor. They met while working together with
the National Theatre for the Deaf.[1]
Bove is still an active member of the deaf arts community.

Career[edit]
Television[edit]
Bove appeared in an episode of Happy Days as Allison, Arthur Fonzarelli's deaf girlfriend. She
also performed on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow.
With her role on Search for Tomorrow, Bove became one of the first deaf actresses to become a
regular on a soap opera series. She performed as a member of the National Theater of the
Deaf,[2] founded in 1967.
Sesame Street[edit]
Bove debuted on Sesame Street circa 1971-72 as the deaf character Linda. On Sesame Street,
she has introduced millions of children to sign language and issues surrounding the deaf
community. Her character owns a very playful dog, Barkley. Her role on Sesame Street lasted
from 1971[3] to 2002, making it the longest running role for a deaf person in television history.[citation
needed]
Also, in her role on Sesame Street, she increased public awareness of deaf culture and
made it known that being deaf was not shameful.[4]
Initially a part-time cast member, by the mid-late 1970s, Bove became a full-fledged and more
regular cast member and she was portrayed as being in a romantic relationship with Bob on the
show.
In addition to playing Linda, Bove appeared frequently in various sketches and silent film
segments, where she was often paired up with Sonia Manzano (Maria). She often played a
supporting role in Manzano's Charlie Chaplin silent film sketches (with occasional voiceovers),
usually as a pretty woman, but did play a second Tramp if two were needed (e.g. the mirror
sketch and the opening umbrellas sketch). Manzano and Bove worked in many other sketches
together, both with and without dialogue - on-camera or voiceover.

Deaf Theatre[edit]
In the 1970s, Bove and some of her colleagues started a company called Little Theatre of the
Deaf to attract more deaf people, as well as children. This company gained national and
international attention. The company dealt with communication among deaf people and the
importance of teaching sign language to deaf children.
In 1979, Bove and the NTD traveled on a 30,000 mile world tour. Their biggest success was in
Japan where they were well received. There, they were invited to come on a television show and
later, their show was attended by the royal family.
Bove was, with Waterstreet, one of the founders of the Deaf West Theater Company in Los
Angeles in 1991, which was the first of its kind based on deaf actors and actresses. In this
company, she starred in a play produced by George Bernard Shaw called Saint Joan based
on Joan of Arc. The plays performed by this company were translated into sign language and
adjusted accordingly in order to make sense. This company uses speech along with signs in
order to help bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds.[5]
Not only did Bove help found the Deaf West Theater Company, she was also involved in a
number of projects pertaining to the deaf community. Several of her involvements were related to
children as well as the deaf. She had a brief role in The Land Before Time IV. When the
characters, which were dinosaurs, would talk in the movie, she would have a pop-up box in the
corner of the video and interpret what they were saying using sign language. She also made
videos, such as Sign Me a Story.
Bove has starred in several productions of the stageplay Children of a Lesser God.[2]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Role Notes

1971 Sesame Street Linda the Librarian TV series, 19712003

1973 Search for Tomorrow Melissa Hayley Weldon TV Series, unknown episodes

Christmas Eve on Sesame

1978 TV Movie
Street

Linda the Librarian

A Walking Tour of Sesame

1979 TV Movie
Street

1980 Happy Days Allison TV Series, one episode "Allison"

1983 Don't Eat the Pictures TV Movie

Linda the Librarian

1985 Follow that Bird TV Movie

1986 Children of a Lesser God Marian Loesser Movie

Herself, Various Educational video featuring signed

1987 Sign me a Story
Characters versions of fairy tales
 Sesame Street: 20 and Still
1989 Herself TV Special
Counting

1996 Somebody to Love Computer Voice only

2005 Friends to the Rescue Linda the Librarian Direct to video

Child Protective Services

2010 Weeds 3 Episodes
Officer

IOGRAFI ANGKIE YUDISTIA (GADIS

TUNARUNGU)
24 January 2015

Keterbatasan sebagai penyandang tunarungu tak membuat angki

e yudistia terpuruk.
Founder dan ceo thisable enterprise itu malah menerabas Tembok bernama pesimisme dan
bangkit berprestasi

Namun pencapaian sukses perempuan kelahiran medan, 5 juni 1987 itu tak dengan mudah
dilaluinya. Melainkan penuh caci dan diskriminasi hingga pernah membuatnya depresi
Dikisahkan, angkie mengalami tunarungu sejak berusia 10 tahun. Meski hal itu membuatnya
terguncang, namun ia dan keluarga tetap memutuskan agar dirinya menempuh pendidikan di
sekolah umum

Praktis, keterbatasan angkie itu menimbulkan banyak masalah selama belajar di sd hingga
sma. Tak jarang ia mengaku sering kali menerima cacian dan hinaan

dulu aku diledekin, dikatain budek, tuli itu sering banget di lingkungan, ungkapnya. Ketika
itu, rasa malu meang membuat angkie menutupi jati dirinya sebagai penyandang tunarungu

kalau ditanya, aku bilang, nggak apa-apa kok. Alat bantu dengar aku tutupi terus pakai
rambut. Tapi nggak bisa dibohongi ya, dan bikin orang curiga kau kenapa.
Aku sering dipanggil nggak denger, guru ngomong, nggak dengar, sambungnya lagi.

Pernah menyalahkan kondisi? itu sering banget. Kenapa sih Tuhan aku harus begini? Itu
pertanyan yang sering aku ucapkan. Tapi aku mau menyalahkan siapa? Orangtuaku pun
nggak pernah memperlakukan Aku berbeda dengan anaknya yang lain, sahutnya

Hingga suatu ketika, seorang Bapak di kereta api menyadarkannya untuk bangkit. Singkat
cerita, sejak saat itu angkie pun mulai bisa menerima keadaan dan berusaha menemukan jati
dirinya yang sesungguhnya. Bungsu dari dua bersaudara itu pun berusaha bangkit dan
mengejar ketertinggalan. Agar tak tertinggal pelajaran di sekolah, ia belajar dua kali lebih
keras dari teman-temannya yang lain hingga lulus

Aku sadar Aku sulit mengikuti pelajaran di sekolah umum. Makanya setipa pulang sekolah
aku pasti les. Banyak baca buku juga. Jadi dua kali belajar dari yang lainnya dan itu aku
benar-benar jalani sampai lulus, terangnya

Dilema dihadapi angkie yudistia saat lulus SMA. Dokter yang merawatnya menyarankan agar
ia tidak melanjutkan kuliah karena stress bisa memperparah kondisi pendengarannya
Saat itu, te linga kanan angkie hanya mampu mendengar
suara 70 desibel sedangkan yang kiri 98 desibel. Sementara, rata-rata percakapan pada
manusia normal berada di 40 desibel

itulah yang mebuat aku divonis dokter sebagai tunarungu pas usia 10 tahun. Makanya aku
bisa dengar hanya kalau pakai hearing aid (alat bantu dengar) saja, ungkapnya

Namun angkie ngotot untuk tetap meneruskan pendidikannya. Ia kemudian kuliah dan
menyelesaikan studinya di jurusan periklanan di london school of public relations (LSPR),
jakarta, dan lulus dengan indeks prestasi 3.5

Tekad angkie yang kuat dan kemauan untuk terus menggali potensi diri, membuatnya tumbuh
menjadi anak yang penuh percaya diri. Semasa kuliah, ia selalu aktif dalam kegiatan positif

Angkie tercatat sebagai finalis abang none

mewakili wilayah jakarta barat tahun 2008. Selain itu ia juga berhasil terpilih The Most
Fearless Female Cosmopolitan 2008, serta Miss Congenially Dari Natur-E, serta berbagai
prestasi lainnya

Kecintaan angkie di dunia pendidikan pun mengantarkannya meraih gelas master setelah
lulus dari bidang komunikasi pemasaran lewat program akselerasi di LSPR. dunia
komunikasi dan public speaking memang sudah menjadi passion aku, katanya seraya
tersenyum
P emilik tinggi 170 cm dan berat 53 kg itu pernah pula bekerja sebagai humas di beberapa
perusahaan. tapi bukan berarti aku nggak pernah ditolak kerja ya, sudah sering banget.
Alasannya karena waktu mereka tahu aku tunarungu dan nggak bisa pakai telepon, kisahnya

Pengalaman angkie didiskriminasi itu kemudian memotivasinya untuk membuat thisable

enterprise bersama rekannya. Perusahaan ini focus pada misi social, khususnya membantu
orang yang memiliki keterbatasan fisik alias difable (different ability people) seperti dirinya

ketika aku sekarang sudah nyaman dengan diri aku sendiri, sekarang giliran aku untuk
membantu orang yang sama seperti aku dulu. Membantu menyadarkan orang juga agar
jangan mendiskriminasi kami, tukasnya

Kepeduliaannya tak berhenti sampai di situ. Berbagai pengalaman hidupnya mencari jati diri
kemudian dituangkannya lewat buku berjudul invaluable experience to pursue
dream(perempuan tuna rungu menembus batas) akhir 2011 lalu
Sosok angkie dan segudang prestasinya itu menunjukkan bahwa setiap orang, bahkan yang
punya cacat fisik sekalipun bisa jadi luar biasa. keterbatasan bisa jadi kelebihan. Setiap
masalah pasti ada jalan keluarnya asal ada kemauan, ucapnya

Lantas, masih adakah

penyesalan sebagai penyandang Tunarungu? nggak. Sekarang nggak ada yang Aku tutup-
tutupin lagi.
Aku cukup bangga dilahirkan seperti ini.
Aku memang beda tapi Aku yakin ada maksud dan Tujuan Tuhan kenapa Aku seperi ini,
tandasnya
Copy Paste : WordPress com
Bogor 24 september 2014

Memiliki keterbatasan fisik bukan berarti tidak mempunyai semangat untuk

berprestasi. Orang-orang yang mempunyai keterbatasan fisik (difabel) biasanya
mempunyai kelebihan tertentu bila dibandingkan dengan orang normal. Tak jarang,
karena keterbatasan fisiknya justru mereka malah menjadi terkenal karena
memiliki kelebihan.

Orang yang menyandang difabel ini mempunyai kelebihan karena usahanya yang
keras dan tekat untuk maju. Dengan keterbatasan yang ada akhirnya diraihlah suatu
kesuksesan. Jadi, bagi orang-orang yang normal tidak mempunyai prestasi
seharusnya merasa malu pada mereka ini.
Seperti 10 orang-orang berikut ini yang sukses dan terkenal karena mereka tuli
seperti dilansir Bold Sky (22/10/2013). Semoga ini menjadi semangat dan inspirasi
bagi kita semua.

1. Ludwig van Beethoven

Foto: gramophone.co.uk

Ludwig van Beethoven adalah seorang komponis Jerman dan pianis. Pada usia 26,
Beethoven mulai kehilangan pendengarannya. Pada dekade terakhir hidupnya, ia
menjadi hampir sepenuhnya tuli. Tapi, sebagian besar komposisi terkenal dibuat
selama ini.

2. Louis Frisino

Foto: aolanswers.com

Louis Frisino adalah salah satu orang tuli yang paling sukses. Frisino adalah
seorang seniman kreatif dan pelukis. Frisino yang tertarik lebih dalam lukisan mata
pelajaran alam yang realistis, seperti anjing, ikan dan bebek. Ia juga disewa oleh
orang untuk melukis hewan peliharaan pribadi dengan menggunakan foto.

3. Helen Keller

Foto: biografiasyvidas.com

Helen Keller mungkin yang paling terkenal dan inspirasi orang-orang tuli sukses
yang pernah ada. Dia menjadi tuli dan buta ketika dia masih berumur 19-bulan.
Dengan kekuatan kehendaknya yang kuat, ia mencapai ketenaran sebagai penulis,
kemanusiaan, dan aktivis sosial.
4. Thomas Alva Edison

Foto: graciasvrs.com

Thomas Alva Edison adalah salah satu di antara orang-orang tuli yang sukses.
Edison menjadi tuli pada anak usia dini karena demam berdarah dan infeksi telinga
berulang. Dia adalah seorang penemu, yang mengembangkan banyak perangkat
termasuk fonograf dan bola lampu.

5. Linda Bove

Foto: fanpix.net

Linda Bove adalah salah satu dari orang-orang tuli yang terkenal dan sukses. Bove
adalah seorang aktris Amerika. Dia memainkan bagian dari Linda, Pustakawan
pada anak-anak program televisi Sesame Street. Bove mendorong anak-anak untuk
bahasa isyarat juga.

6. Johnnie Ray

Foto: violafair.com

John Alvin Ray adalah seorang penyanyi Amerika, penulis lagu, dan pianis. Ray
mengembangkan gaya berbasis ritme tunggal dan pendekatan pop klasik yang
lebih konvensional. Ia menjadi parsial pada usia 13 setelah kecelakaan selama
acara pramuka.

7. Harold MacGrath

Foto: Wikipedia

Harold MacGrath adalah salah satu dari orang-orang terkenal dan tuli
yang sukses.Ia adalah novelis Amerika, penulis cerita pendek, dan penulis
skenario. Dengan kemauan, ia mengatasi cacatnya dengan semangat untuk menulis
surat. Ia menjadi kaya dengan bakat dan bepergian di seluruh dunia.

8. Heather Whitestone McCallum

 Foto: kenton.k12.ky.us

Heather Whitestone adalah yang pertama dan satu-satunya Miss America yang tuli.
Ia adalah salah satu orang tuli sukses yang menjabat sebagai Dewan Nasional
Penyandang Cacat dan Penelitian Yayasan Helen Keller pada Pendidikan.

9. Gertrude Ederle

Foto: glogster.com

Gertrude Ederle adalah perenang kompetitif Amerika, yang tentunya merupakan

salah satu inspirasi orang-orang tuli yang sukses. Pada tahun 1926, ia menjadi
wanita pertama yang berenang menyeberangi Selat Inggris. Ia menghabiskan sisa
hidupnya mengajar renang untuk anak-anak tuli.

10. Laurent Clerc

Foto: (folda.net

Laurant Clerc disebut sebagai Pemimpin bagi orang tuli di Amerika dan Bapak
bagi orang tuli oleh orang-orang tuli Amerika. Ia adalah pendiri sekolah pertama
untuk orang tuli di Amerika Utara. Clerc adalah salah satu orang tuli yang paling
sukses dalam sejarah Amerika

Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is a former beauty queen who
was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at age 18 months.

Contents
[hide]

1Early life
2Pageant record
3After Miss America
o 3.1Bibliography
4References
5External links
Early life[edit]
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Whitestone was born in Dothan, Alabama. When she was 18 months old, she lost her hearing
due to a serious ear infection. In fourth grade, Heather learned about the story of a young woman
from Alabama who would forever change her life Helen Keller. Keller became her role model.
She was unable to keep up with her classwork and began to fall behind her peers. She asked her
family to send her to a special school that would enable her to catch up with other students in her
class. While at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Missouri, she learned two grade
levels per year.[1] After three years, she caught up with her peers and returned to Alabama to
graduate from public high school with a 3.6 grade point average (GPA).[citation needed]
She moved to Birmingham at age sixteen, following her parents' divorce. She attended the
Alabama School of Fine Arts for a year and graduated from Berry High School (now Hoover High
School) in 1991. Her passion was ballet and she had spent most of her time developing her
ballet skills. She then went on to study at Jacksonville State University.

Pageant record[edit]
Whitestone first participated in Shelby County Junior Miss program. While not actually a beauty
pageant, the experience gave her the confidence to begin entering pageants. Her first year in the
Miss America system, she won the Miss Jacksonville State University title, and went on to
be Miss Alabama.[2] She stood next to Miss Virginia (Culen Johnson) in the finals of the Miss
America 1995 pageant. When the first runner-up was announced, she could not hear the
host Regis Philbin but could read his lips. Surprised, she looked to her fellow contestant for
confirmation that she had won.[3]
As Miss America, she showcased her S.T.A.R.S. program around the country. S.T.A.R.S. stands
for "Success Through Action and Realization of your dreams." It has five points which are:
positive attitude, belief in a dream, the willingness to work hard, facing obstacles, and building a
strong support team.
Whitestone also served as an executive member on the President's Committee on Employment
of People Disabilities. She has written three books.

After Miss America[edit]

Since her Miss America win, Whitestone has completed her studies at Jacksonville State
University and continued to promote awareness of Deaf issues. She has also spoken out in detail
about her close relationship with God, one that she has had ever since she rediscovered church
as a teenager. She wrote about her life experiences in her third book, Let God Surprise You:
Trust God with Your Dreams.
A volunteer for Republican causes, she spoke at the party's National Conventions
of 1996 and 2000, for GOP presidential nominees Bob Dole and George W. Bush.[4]
In 2002, Whitestone courted controversy among the Deaf community when she decided to have
a cochlear implant operation in order to hear to an extent in her right ear, the hearing of which
she had lost at 18 months. It was implanted by Dr. John Niparko on August 6 at Johns Hopkins
Medical Center and activated on September 19.[5] She said the primary motivation for electing the
surgery was an incident when she did not hear her son's cries for help. She said that she has not
regretted her decision, thanking her family for supporting her.[6]
She is a motivational speaker and lives on Saint Simons Island with her husband John
McCallum, whom she met when he served as a Congressional aide to Speaker Newt Gingrich.
They have three children: John, James, and William.[7]
Some of her accomplishments are:
Appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the US Senate to the National Council on
Disability Resigned in 2010.
Becoming a board member for the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, from
19952002.
Whitestone was appointed to the Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health on
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in 2002.
She has appeared on CNN, ABC's Good Morning America and The View. She has also been in
print articles for USA Today and People Magazine.
In 2003, she filmed two public service announcements to bring awareness about "Dogs for the
Deaf", which is a hearing-dog organization.
Whitestone became a spokesperson for the Starkey Hearing Aid Foundation and for Cochlear
America's.
She has written three books: Listening with My Heart, Believing in the Promise, and Let God
Surprise You. She has also spearheaded the nation's largest multimedia public service campaign
to identify early hearing loss, which was created by the Miss America Organization and the
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.[8]

Bibliography[edit]

Listening with My Heart (1997) ISBN 0-385-48675-8

Believing the Promise (1999) ISBN 0-310-24628-8
Let God Surprise You (2003) ISBN 0-385-49507-2
Heavenly Crowns (2004) ISBN 0-310-24627-X

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Kanwar, Tanuja. "Former pageant winners send congratulations to student", Gadsden
Times, September 18, 1994. Accessed July 18, 2010.
2. Jump up^ "Miss Alabama History". Miss Alabama. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
3. Jump up^ Northstar Media (Summer 2007). Journey Out of Silence: The Heather Whitestone
Story (Biography). American Public Television.
4. Jump up^ Miss America - Through the years.... Miss South Central Scholarship Program, Inc.
Accessed June 20, 2010.
5. Jump up^ "After 29 Silent Years, Ex-Miss America Hears". ABC News. 20 September 2002.
Retrieved 9 June 2017.
6. Jump up^ Whitestone, Heather (2005). "Frequently Asked Questions". HeatherWhitestone.com.
Archived from the original on December 23, 2008.
7. Jump up^ Miss America Organization (2008). "1995: Heather Whitestone, Birmingham,
Alabama". Miss America History.
8. Jump up^ Miss America Organization. "Miss America 1995: Heather Whitestone." Miss America
Organization. Miss America Organization, 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2012