Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who lost most of her hearing as a toddler, is an executive producer of the A&E documentary Deaf Out Loud, which follows three predominantly deaf families as they raise their children in a hearing world. 

“People use different terms to refer to us—hearing impaired, hard of hearing, hearing loss,” says Matlin, 53. “The misconception lies in the fact that deaf people all think alike, talk alike and live alike, and that’s not true.”