Washoe Country School District
Change Font Size
Gabriella Broadwater's Profile
Spanish Springs Student Is Positive Example of Self-Advocacy
Student: Gabrielle Broadwater
School: Spanish Springs High School
When Spanish Springs High School senior Gabrielle Broadwater visits Europe this summer after graduating, she’ll put into practice all the skills she’s acquired in the French classes she took for four years and as this year’s French Club president. Though she’s hard of hearing, it hasn’t yet stopped her from studying to become fluent in the language.
“I want to go see the culture and interact with the people there in Europe,” she said.
Gabrielle graduates this June with not just a diploma but with the hope of meeting new faces domestically and internationally as she plans to major in business in college.
“I really like people,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to get when you’re walking down the street. I like variety.”
Gabrielle has proven she’s social, outgoing and unafraid to stand up for herself. These are traits that have been handy for dealing with her hearing loss, which began when she was 3 years old.
“I couldn’t hear the sound of birds and my mom said they sounded so pretty and I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ ” she said. “She would hate the sound of bacon sizzling and popping and I still couldn’t hear it. It was the little sounds I couldn’t pick up on clearly, so she’d take me to a speech therapist.”
Her loss is genetic on her father’s side of the family. But in time, she would learn how to overcome her challenge, especially in school.
“There were so many kids in class and the background noise would drown out the teacher’s voice,” she said. “I didn’t know I could ask to sit up front or have the teacher turn around and speak clearly to me. In middle and high school, I was told I should advocate for myself. I do that now. I sit in the front row. Teachers write down all their homework to make sure I don’t miss it. I would hate to use my hearing loss as an excuse and I don’t use it as an excuse.”
Her counselor, Kevin Rutherford, said it would be difficult to tell she has any hearing loss at all. Occasionally if a teacher shows a movie in class, she asks for them to put on closed captioning. Generally, she reads lips and does with it ease today. She wears a hearing aid almost exclusively in school where there’s more background noise than at home.
“You wouldn’t know it looking at her,” he said. “She had straight As in her freshman year. She’s never let any of it slow her down. French class has been difficult, though, because you have to listen to somebody speaking French. She has to read lips. But teachers don’t see her as having a disability. You have to educate everybody and Gabrielle’s done a good job at that. She’s always really active.”
Gabrielle continues to be active with extracurricular activities, including the school’s Christian club and having played volleyball. She said with the support of friends and family, standing up for herself has been one of the greatest things she’s learned in high school.
“Make sure you get everything you need but don’t ever make it an excuse because nobody likes excuses,” she said. “You just have to deal with it. It’s what God gave you. Just go with the flow. That’s how I’ve gotten by, knowing it’s been for some reason.”
