Jeanne Jakle: SA native enjoying leading role on 'Switched'

Playing a deaf teenager on a weekly TV series could prove daunting to the average actress.

However, San Antonio native Katie Leclerc , one of the leads of ABC Family's summer drama “Switched at Birth,” is anything but average. She feels like she's “been preparing for it for a long time.” Here's how:

Leclerc, 24, who was born here and divided her growing up years among S.A., Colorado and California, didn't take the usual Spanish or French when, at 17, she needed a language elective to graduate. Instead, she chose American Sign Language. She didn't know at the time, of course, just how handy that skill would be for the biggest break of her acting career: the role of Daphne Vasquez on “Switched at Birth,” a teen who lost her hearing from meningitis at age 3.

That's not all. At 20, Leclerc was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, an inner-ear disorder. One symptom, she said, is fluctuating hearing loss.

“I, too, have a hearing loss, but it's not as severe as Daphne's,” she said in a phone chat from Los Angeles, where she currently resides.

However, don't get the idea the job's a breeze for Katie.

“It's very challenging to do everything an actress should do, remember lines and all, and speak in American Sign Language, which has a different grammatical structure than English,” she said.

When she talks, she also must “do it with an accent and sort of dumb down one of my senses on days when I can hear a little better,” she said.

Her hard work clearly is paying off. Leclerc's wonderful in the role: moving, funny and, most important, believable.

“I've been acting for 10 years,” she said; previous work was in “Veronica Mars” and “The Riches.” “But this is really the first chance for me to showcase what talents I have, to shine and help people get to know me.”

The TV series, which airs at 8 p.m. Mondays, definitely is an asset to the hard-of-hearing community; hers is one of three prominent deaf characters in “Birth.” Daphne's best friend, Emmett, is played by deaf actor Sean Berdy, and Marlee Matlin (“Children of a Lesser God”) plays Emmett's mom. Leclerc feels especially touched when she logs on to Twitter or Facebook and sees comments such as, “Thank you ‘Switched at Birth' for making me proud to be deaf” and “for making me feel comfortable in my own skin.”

However, Leclerc was quick to add, “the core of the show is the two families.” It raises all kinds of socioeconomic and nature-vs.-nurture issues, she said.

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