Grabelsky, Shira

Born hearing but deafened from ototoxic drugs necessary for control of a severe combined immunodeficiency in early childhood; she had to live in a plastic "bubble" for a while until bone-marrow transplants corrected her condition. Deafness gradual and total by her 3rd birthday. Attended New York School for the Deaf until third grade, then transferred to a mainstream program in a New York public school. Junior and senior years of high school at Model Secondary School for the Deaf, graduating 1999. Student at George Washington University. While there, she starred at age 19 as the 6-year-old Helen Keller in the Arena Stage [Washington DC]'s 2000 production of The Miracle Worker, where her short stature (under 4 feet) helped fit her to her child role and she won great acclaim for her performance.