Last night, Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd took home the Mirror Ball Trophy, winning the 22nd season of 'Dancing with the Stars.'
"Because he was crying, it made me cry even more because wow...he's showing the world that we can do anything," said Bakersfield American Sign Language Instructor, Barbara Mathis.
Mathis believes DiMarco's win is helping bring awareness to the deaf community around the world.
One local organization helping spread awareness is B-Glad. One of their missions is to close the gap between the hearing and deaf communities, starting at home.
"More than 75% of all deaf children, Mother and Father don't even know sign and can't communicate with their children. That's a huge language division," said Roy Abueg, with B-Glad.
Mathis and Abueg agree that more employers need to give opportunities to the hearing impaired.
"You don't really have to hear to be smart, to be competitive, to be successful. We're all human. We can do anything except hear," said Mathis.
