Quotes from Mandy Harvey

I use the aid of technology while running through songs. Visual tuners and feeling the vibrations through the floor to keep time.

What I do is I get the sheet music and I put it out for myself and then I use a visual tuner to go through each note individually. And every time I make a mistake, I start the song over again, so I use the muscle memory of intervals and then watching that tuner, and then a lot of repetition.

A long time ago I started talking into a balloon so I could feel myself talking, to practice judging volume, and compare it to other musicians.

If I take back any of the bumps, bruises or scrapes I've been through. I wouldn't be the same person.

I wanted to show that even if you fail, you have the ability to pick yourself up off the floor and try again. I wanted to show a different side of what a disability looks like to highlight all the invisible ones.

I started singing in a choir when I was 4 years old.

I don't need pity. I want to be looked at like a musician, because I am one. I happen to be deaf.

I started to play music again because of my dad and my mom. I grew up playing guitar with my dad, and he and my mom encouraged me to start again.

When I'm playing with my band, I designate different parts to feel different things. The bass pounds in your chest when you go to a concert. It almost replaces your heartbeat. Then the drums you feel on the floor.

I made the mistake of pouring my entire identity into one single dream and convincing myself that I was not capable of anything else or creating any other dream.

I was a shy child. I had anxiety. I used to cry when I had to give a presentation.

I really wanted to change the idea of what is possible and to show that 'deaf can' and what better place to do that than on national television?

Technology is improving to prevent musicians from losing their hearing while performing on stage... audience members losing their hearing from listening to loud music... people being able to experience music not just with their ears, but with touch or with through their eyes.

With a progressive issue, it was always a monkey that was chasing me down. I had a great fear of losing my hearing. In my gut, I always knew that it was going to happen. I was just hoping that it would happen when I was 50 and not when I was 18.

Losing my hearing was always my biggest fear, so what's the worst that can happen, sing the wrong notes? Who cares, it's not going to kill you.

You can feel the drums, and you can feel the bass. So, being able to feel the music through the floor, it makes me feel like I'm a part of the band and not just the only person in the room who doesn't really understand what's going on.

I was in Colorado for about 15 years but my family is all from Florida.

I'm not scared to sing songs. I'm not scared to walk out the front door and make a mistake.

There have been a couple of times I've started the song in the wrong key. We stop the song, we all laugh together and we start the song again, and we go for it.

I didn't wake up one day and just couldn't hear. I woke up one day and realized I was having difficulty, and that I had overcompensated by lip reading, so that I didn't really understand how bad it was.

I work a lot with dynamics of how loud I'm talking, like speaking into balloons and then feeling the texture on my fingertips, and then I get used to the feeling on my throat.

I found my way back into music and realized that it's not that the music went away after losing my hearing, I just get the privilege of enjoying it and experiencing it differently.

I am an ambassador for a nonprofit organization and I love being able to help people crush their barriers. I recently wrote a book. I want to do more with my life and help people do more with their lives, whatever that looks like.

When I was losing my hearing, we had to buy hearing aids and they were incredibly expensive. It was a huge financial situation.