Shōko Nishimiya 西宮 硝子 is a girl who was born hearing impaired , and as such was bullied by Shoya and other classmates in elementary school, to the point that she was physically assaulted, and had to transfer away to another school. Her father left the family when Shoko was quite young, because his parents pressured him to file for a divorce and separated from the family after it was learned that his daughter Shoko was a deaf/mute.
From early childhood, Shoko seems to have been given the silent message from family and friends that she is somehow 'damaged goods'. Like Shoko ordered up her circumstances when her mother was pregnant with her !?! This message of her supposedly being a less than desirable person was taught to her by the actions of her father, who divorced her mother when she was once again pregnant with Shoko's sister, Yuzuru. Mrs. Nishimiya even plays into the 'unworthy child syndrome' by determining that Shoko be remade into a 'boy', so as to cover her femininity and disability with seemingly superior masculinity. From early on, resolutely deciding to follow her own path in life, Shoko resists the two other life courses that were already laid out for her; being directed by a masculine infused outlook, or being directed by a fatalistic outlook dictated by her disability.