Abigail Heringer Discusses Deaf Representation
On night one, Abigail Heringer stole our hearts and also received the first impression rose, now she brought Bachelor Nation to tears when she opened up about the hearing loss community and her personal journey.
“I was really scared when I decided to come on just because I think people view the hearing community and the Deaf community – with a capital ‘D’—as black and white. And I’m kind of that gray space in the middle that hasn’t had a lot of light show on,” Heringer said.
The fan-favorite left everything out on the table, as she explained that she was born profoundly deaf and can’t hear without the aid of her cochlear implant. According to the contestant, she is not considered a part of the Deaf community because she communicates vocally rather than with sign language.
Abigail says that she is absolutely blown away by the support and responses from fans, “I’ve just gotten so many messages like this of people saying, ‘Thank you so much for showing this in a romantic light because disability isn’t always romanticized,” she adds.
Before leaving the stage, Abigail spills her heart out about Matt James, how grateful she was for the experience, the new friendships she formed with the women, and how she is a “much better version” of herself since filming.
