Weber is profoundly deaf and says she was mainstreamed in regular education classes for most of her schooling. She grew up in Wilkie, attending Norman Carter School and McLurg High School during the early 1960s and ‘70s. Her parents both taught in Wilkie. “My parents emphasized the arts during early childhood. They also took classes in deaf education at Minot State College in North Dakota in the summers to help further my language skills,” Weber says. Following high school graduation, Weber attended the University of Saskatchewan and obtained honours bachelor of arts degrees in English and philosophy as well as a BEd. At Edmonton she earned a master’s in library science at the University of Alberta, followed by a PhD from the University of Regina. She was awarded the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal for her work in arts-based language and literacy intervention with deaf students.