No response.
Okay, drop down to a low tone.
Nothing, no response.
No, didn't get that one.
No response. Nothing in the high tones.
I'm completely surprised. This is much more than I ever expected.
That now she's deaf. It doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem like these results are accurate.
And I sat there kind of numb and okay, now I know my child can't hear me, can't hear anything.
What do I do? And I really didn't react to that point because I just felt I needed to get as much information as possible.
And I went home and cried my brains out.
Every parent has dreams for their child. Dreams of what they might do. Dreams of who they might become.
For many parents who are told that their child is deaf, suddenly, in a single moment, their visions are shattered.
But for parents who want their child to speak and listen, there is hope.
Annette called me one day at work and she was kind of in a panic and crying and just saying,
I don't think Elizabeth can hear me. And Elizabeth had just gone down for her nap.
And I said, all right, well, take two pans and go into her crib and just bang the pans over her crib and see if she wakes up.
And so she said, okay, hold on. And she went and did it. I could hear them banging in the background.
And she came back and she couldn't even say she didn't wake up. I mean, she was just sobbing.
And she just couldn't even respond.
I didn't expect them to tell me that she was going to be hearing impaired. I just thought I'd go through the motions.
She was 12 months old. We went into the booth. And she just was walking around at my feet.
And they were just blasting sounds. And even then, it didn't dawn on me that I should be seeing a scared reaction.
And I just was fine with it. Nothing hit me at the time.
Walked out of the booth and the audiologist sat me down and she said, she's deaf. She didn't hear any of that.
She was feeding the sound in. And you could just see that the sound waves were not the way they were supposed to be.
And it's awful because you realize that she's completely deaf. And it still gets you. You don't know what you can expect.
It's just gut-wrenching to see your child lay there and know that she has a serious problem.
Oh, I cry. Yeah. It seems like I lost everything.
And as a father, I hope I give him the fair chance to face the world and equal opportunities just like any other kids.
Those hopes gone. Just complete gone.
Grief, confusion, devastation. These are the common experiences of parents when they first get the diagnosis that their child is deaf.
They don't know what to do or who to turn to.
I think you go through a lot of different stages of feeling when you first initially find out about the deafness.
One of them is shock, you know, and not wanting to believe and really thinking this is all a dream.
When it does start sinking in, you think, well, you know, she's not going to have a first word.
She doesn't know my name. She doesn't know mommy, daddy, kitty. Simple, simple things.
At the time, what was more difficult for me is I don't know what to do, how to start, how to raise a deaf kid. I wasn't ready for that.
The hardest thing for me was I was thinking she's never going to hear me say I love you or I'm proud of you.
For a long time, I just thought, you know, I'm going to wake up. I mean, I'm going to wake up and this is not happening.
You start thinking about the smallest details of your life and of your day and you're thinking, how can I share this with her now?
I basically begging everybody, all the specialists, audiologists, I see, ENTIC, and ask them how to, how can I help my kids?
I remember the worst part was about three days into it and at that point, I couldn't, I hadn't really told anybody except my immediate family.
And my husband told this lady who likes to tell everybody everything.
And I just felt, God, you know, it's like you're in this little cocoon. People aren't going to start asking you questions or saying, oh, I'm so sorry to hear about it.
And I'm afraid to break down in front of people. I just don't want to do it.
And so I remember being so mad at him and just like, now it's out. Now everybody knows. And then good world's gone.
Twinkle little star had one too are. Upper guy, twinkle little star.
For many parents, children like Anna are the first glimmer of hope.
My name's Anna. I'm four.
Anna is deaf, but she can speak and listen and dream.
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
In the last five years, incredible advances in technology and oral education mean that even profoundly deaf children can learn to listen and talk, even sing.
Let's get your hands going. Nico, let's go.
One, two, three.
Thank you, thank you.
I think that's when we really got our first signs of hope is when we walked in here. And I mean, it's amazing. You see these kids who are communicating. They're talking.
You know, you can tell that there may be something a little off in their speech. It's maybe their tones aren't quite right, but they're communicating just like any child is.
And they're playing just like any child is. And then you start to realize, well, they are just like any child is. It's just that they just can't hear.
How are you? I'm fine. Wonderful. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Good morning. Good morning. How are you? I'm fine. How are you? I'm wonderful. Thank you.
But these kids were hearing. They were hearing and they were talking. And so then we were looking at each other like, can Elizabeth do this? And if Elizabeth can do this, well then she is going to hear me say, I love you.
And that I'm proud of you. I'm terrific. Thank you.
It is important to remember that all the children in this film are not just hard of hearing. They are severely or profoundly deaf.
So how is it that a deaf child can learn to speak and listen? The answer starts by understanding that almost all deaf children have some residual hearing.
So let's go ahead and let's see if we can get those hearing aids back in here.
I thought deaf people couldn't hear anything. That's what I thought deaf meant. Of course now I understand its degrees of deafness.
And that there is severe, moderate, profound. And now I know Lila is considered deaf. She is profound, hearing impaired.
But she does hear something, which is very slight. It's at the very low frequency at a very high decibel level, which is something in the natural environment that we never experience unless bombs going off somewhere and then maybe she'd hear that.
No matter how slight, it is this residual hearing which is the basis of oral education today.
The latest hearing aids and cochlear implants make use of this residual hearing so a child can learn to listen.
There are your hearing aids. Yay! Where do they go? They go in your ears. Nice little understanding. Is that pretty to watch?
Yes.
But is it possible for my child to learn to speak and listen? All parents ask this question.
I didn't know about oralism right away. And then I got a hold of Choices in Deafness which explained all methods to me.
And after reading that book then I was thoroughly confused. I had no idea what to do. Even though they told me all these wonderful methods.
But I'm like, which one do I choose? Which one's best for my daughter?
After weeks of deliberation with doctors, audiologists and family members, Lila's parents have decided to try the oral approach.
Which method of communication you choose is probably the most important and difficult decision that the parents of a deaf child will have to make.
You know what we always find? It's not so much that your hearing improves, it gets better that you learn how to use what you have, that residual listening.
She's starting to listen.
I love mommy.
And the thing that I noticed too is in observing all the different choices you have at the moment that...
As parents are making this critical decision about which communication method to choose, it can be very helpful for them to talk with other parents who are going through the same experience.
The doctors give you some information, but how did you come to find out what to do, find out where to go for him?
We did check out the other options just to make sure we were educated about it.
And those might be options for him later on, but we know at this time we want him to try to become oral.
And so I really did not know that it was really possible. I just really did not know.
And when you find out, it's like you don't have to be Miss America to talk.
Okay, Andre, I'm going to play.
It's also very important for parents to know that their decision is an individual one.
They need to choose the program that is right for their child, their family.
Why was it important for him to speak? A lot of reasons.
One of the main reasons is I really wanted Andre to be able to interact with the rest of the world.
What is that? Two dogs?
Reindeer. Reindeer. Reindeer.
I wanted him to go to McDonald's and ask for his hamburger and french fries.
I wanted him to go to any bank and go to any store that he wishes to and be able to get what he wants
and ask for what he wants vocally.
It was very important for me for Andre to get out and communicate.
Our family is just very noisy.
Our family is all, you know, all we do is talk. Parties, parties, parties.
I wanted him to be a part of that.
Who's that? RJ.
RJ? Who's this?
Nene. Nene?
No, you don't have to have money and you don't have to be Miss America to learn how to speak.
Who's that? Andre.
Hi. Hi, I'm a child.
Von was born deaf. His mother chose the oral option even before she knew it would be her only real option.
We chose the oral option when Von was still an infant. He was only about eight months old, seven months old.
After thinking about all of the options and taking a look at them, we thought that talking would put him in touch with the world in general.
We didn't even know at that time that he was going to have any vision problems.
We just, we made that decision based on the fact that we felt that would be important to his life
and that he could learn to sign at a later age if he chose to, but it would be very difficult for him to choose to talk at a later age.
So we made the decision that even rather than going total communication, we would go the oral option
and that he would learn to talk first and make whatever decision he wanted to make later.
When we found out when Von was about four that he was going to have vision loss and eventually be blind,
it was like, whoa, did we make the right decision? Because now it's even more important.
Just for parents who have just had the diagnosis, there's always going to be a mourning period, but know that there's a lot of hope.
There's a lot that can be done and just take the time to do the research and find the support.
There's a whole community out there that you don't even realize exists when you're not tapped into it.
I'm Bianca. I'm Shitch.
For those parents who have chosen the oral option, the road can lead anywhere.
A child can become a writer, an architect, a teacher, like these oral deaf adults.
But wherever they go in their lives, this is where they begin, where oral education starts.
Oh, hello. Good morning.
After an attack of meningitis, Christopher lost his hearing.
Now at six months, he is starting language and listening therapy.
A child's first years are critical for language learning, so the sooner a deaf child can begin the process, the better.
Hi. Are you happy to do? Ah.
Oh. Oh.
Ah. How are you today? I see a big smile.
Those are all the bye-bye, uh-oh, what happened, mama, dada.
Those are all the first words that little babies will say, so it's good to feed all that language into him.
Let's sing our song. Should we sing Patty Cake? Here we go.
Another first song that you teach little infants.
Patty Cake.
It is in these moments when a deaf child is first exposed to language that the miracle begins.
For those of us who can hear, learning to speak is natural and easy. We just imitate the sounds around us.
But how is it that a deaf child can do this too?
Up, down, up, up, up, up, down.
Sounds that might be indistinguishable to hearing people are repeated hundreds of times.
Listening skills are focused. Patterns of communication are established.
Oh, I found it. My goodness. Knock, knock. Yeah, see his little finger? Knock, knock, knock. Open.
Papa's turn. Knock, knock, knock. Open. Hi, your daddy.
And his turn. Knock, knock, knock. Open.
This process of bathing a child in language requires extraordinary dedication.
It can take months of input before a child utters a sound. It's not magic. It's hard, hard work.
When a child is heard, every parent wants a miracle. Everybody wants a quick fix.
And that doesn't happen, but you start to see the hard work pay off with little victories.
She'll alert to her name or know that a sound is happening, and it starts there.
So when we looked at old videos just before she got her AIDS, she's just very expressive.
Wasn't saying anything, but just happy child, and that said a lot to us.
Her therapist would have her do certain sounds, ah, and she'd imitate her whatever the sounds were.
Do you want two? Two. I want two.
She started going, mmm. She can do the mmm sound. So for juice when she eats lunch or snack, I'd say,
do you want more? More? And then she wasn't responding to me. I'd go, mmm.
And she wasn't doing anything, so I became the cheerleader, and I'd say, I'd go, mmm.
And I'd cheer myself on, and she looked at me, and then she went, mmm.
And I said, good job. Mmm, mmm. You know, we're just back and forth cheering her on and jumping up and down.
We exaggerated the positive reinforcement like you wouldn't believe, but she responded to it so well.
We have to roll it. Ha! We have to roll it. Yeah, we have to roll it.
So, mmm was more. Then by the middle of summer she was, ma. Yes! You know, jumping up and down.
So her first real word was ma. More.
Hour after hour, month after month, the process of surrounding a child in language goes on until the extraordinary day
when the connection between sound and meaning, between oh and open, between mmm and more occurs.
Uh oh, we need more. More. More. More. Let's get some more.
Ah! She just wants to scream, you know. She's telling you she wants more food, and you just want to look at your daughter, hug her, and kiss her, and just go, you're talking to me, you know.
Open. Open. There we go.
So I always used to cry and say, when will she call mommy and papa?
The first day she called mommy, like it was nighttime, we were just sitting, it was a little light, and she asked mommy more.
She was having milk, and suddenly she says two words together, mommy more. And I just cried like anything, you know.
So for a child to be able to say more, or she'd say ooze, and oh you want some juice? And her face would just light up.
And it just seemed like those first little words were so powerful, and they were all words that had a lot of meaning to her.
Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest kite. Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring up to the highest kite. Up where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite.
When we found out that Rachel was deaf, we didn't know, would she be able to say mommy?
And now we can't get her to stop talking. She's talking in sentences. She's picking up words from TV. She's picking them up from her friends.
She's imitating things that sometimes you wish she wouldn't imitate.
Seeing Abigail start the process all over again, you realize how slow it is and how long it can take.
But every day they're so eager to learn. Having two hearing impaired kids is a lot of work.
It's just changed my way of parenting. It's constantly narrating life to them.
There's just so many opportunities to seize and use for learning.
Making dinner, getting up and stirring and pouring, it's all gone. It's everything. You're constantly talking.
You go to bed at night and you just don't want to talk anymore after they go to bed.
It involves a lot of patience, being able to repeat something three or four times until they get it, because you want them to get it.
You have a kiss? First a kiss and then second you can eat. You have a kiss? You ready to eat? We're going to eat.
When we're all done with the paint, you're going to go eat.
And in so many ways it's easy. They're picking it up so quickly.
And just to look back, you know, three and a half years ago, we had no idea what to expect.
And now, looking ahead, I expect that Rachel will be fully mainstream by the time she's in first grade.
Oh, as a single mom, it's so hard. Because I'm there, it's just me and her.
I can't tell her, Mira, go in there with your dad. You know, I'm cooking or I'm doing this.
She's always right there. Mom, what are you doing? And I'm not going to brush her away.
I'm going to tell her, oh, I'm cooking and do you want to help? Everything's a language lesson.
The hardest thing, I think, for me with Veronica in teaching her to talk and to speak was knowing to be patient,
to know that she could not pronounce the H, the ch and the sh and the t sounds.
The rats go in the closet. The rats go in the closet. Closet. Closet.
Very nice, Veronica. And I would say to parents to be patient with this process.
It's a long process, but it's a good one.
So ask your class.
Okay. Miss Vanessa, why don't you make it harder for them and say something like,
if you're wearing...
If you're wearing red.
Come and get some.
Come and get some.
Okay, Edwin.
Expect miracles, but only expect them after a long, long process that requires total dedication from teachers,
parents, and most importantly, the children themselves.
Okay, so who's a boy?
Say, come here, boys.
Come here, boy.
They're going to hurry. Okay.
Good. Listen, I heard five words. Santa wears a red hat. Tell me again.
Santa wears a red hat.
Awesome job. Okay, turn the page.
Language is so powerful, and it's just such a wonderful feeling, whether you're a small child and you want a glass of milk,
or whether you're an adult and you want to tell somebody something.
But just to be able to get your feelings across and your needs, what you need and what you want.
And for children, their little world, that's what's so important to them, what they want and what they need.
How does Santa get in the house?
He knocks on the door.
He knocks on the door?
Yeah.
And then what does he do?
And then, hello.
Hello.
Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas.
He says, ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas.
And one thing that I've done is I try to do something at home that she did in speech.
You know, whatever they're talking about, we'll talk about that on the drive home from school,
or we'll do something that night that she did in speech.
I just love to watch her work with her speech therapist and learn new things and do new things.
It's just a wonderful feeling.
And I'll be sitting out here crying, and Lisa will walk up and I'll say, oh, what did she do?
You know, and every day it's just, oh, she did this or she said that.
It's just really neat.
Ready?
Bye, bye Santa. Bye, bye Santa. Bye, bye Santa. We'll see you next year.
Next year? Good job.
I like music. My favorite B.L.G.T. space girls. My favorite girl. Sporty space.
An important aspect of developing spoken language is to enhance each child's residual hearing.
For some, this means the latest hearing aids. For others, advances in cochlear implants.
What is it?
That's from the library.
Veronica is seven. She has had hearing aids since she was three.
But it is becoming clear to her family and her teachers that she could benefit from the increased hearing provided by a cochlear implant.
Veronica, when did you get your cochlear implant?
What?
When did you get your cochlear implant?
Today.
Today you will get your surgery?
No.
What will you get today?
My processor.
Good.
Two months ago, a series of electrodes was implanted in Veronica's cochlea.
Today is a big day for Veronica.
An audiologist is going to hook up the implant to a processor.
And if all goes well, Veronica should be able to hear in a way that she has never been able to hear before.
This is part of the process of finding where that goes.
That looks like it's right there.
We're going to put this on like this.
There we go.
And I think what I'll do is tell you when it's on so you can be looking and watching for a reaction as well as Veronica listening and raising her hand.
You might see something that might indicate.
Oh yeah, she's heard that a little bit.
It's on.
On.
I hear.
Good job.
Good job.
On.
I hear.
Good for you, Veronica.
Well, when she was being set up for it, it was called mapping.
I was apprehensive again because I didn't know whether Veronica was actually hearing sounds or just responding to Orly's voice, the audiologist who did her.
And what she's hearing probably isn't anything like what she's heard before.
The implanted signal is quite different than her hearing aid signal.
On.
I hear.
Good job.
When I knew that she was hearing the sounds and responding.
I hear.
Good for you.
And that there was sound coming through her right ear that she was actually hearing it was the moment that I said, God is wonderful, God is so good to us.
He's given our baby some hearing.
And I mean, it still chokes me up to think that that this could still actually happen, that it is happening to her in her life.
What's she doing?
She's crying.
She's happy.
I'm happy.
I'm happy.
I'm not sad.
I'm happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm happy for you.
I'm so happy.
I'm happy.
That's why I cry because I'm happy.
I'm so happy.
We got it done.
Yes.
Yes.
You can hear me.
You can hear me.
I love you.
So.
So I had to talk about it and, you know, not be emotional about it because it's wonderful.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
You can.
That was always our running joke.
Can you hear me?
Yeah, you can hear.
So you can hear me.
Yeah.
Okay.
I mean, it's a happy emotion, but it's very emotional to know that this could actually happen.
It could really be real, not just in my fantasy.
It's time for my opinion.
Oh, the dress is stuck on your finger?
Okay, I got it.
Katelyn was one of the first children in the U.S. to get a cochlear implant.
Oh, Geraldine.
What up?
My implant.
Katie.
Ha, ka.
Pa, pa.
Can you say sha, sha, sha?
Sha, sha, sha.
Beautiful.
Can you tell me what this is?
A ship and...
Good.
What's this?
Tiger.
Tiger?
Tiger.
I made Easter eggs with my friend Heather.
Yeah?
What did they look like?
We made fancy eggs.
Catch.
Catch.
Fom.
Fom.
From unintelligible speech to testifying before Congress about the benefits of her implant,
Katelyn's story has become an inspiration to families throughout the country.
My implant.
All right, my implant works like this.
I have this microphone that's right there.
It's really, really tiny.
Hooks up onto my ear.
Whoops.
Like that.
And I have a magnet inside my head right there underneath the skin.
This right here is another magnet.
So it hooks onto that.
And what happens is sound goes through that microphone, down the wire, into this little computer,
and it goes back up the wire, through both of the magnets, down a string of electrodes in my cochlear
that were used to replace the hearing nerves that I lost when I got meningitis.
And those electrodes transmit sound right to my brain, and it happens like that.
It is not just kids who can benefit from a cochlear implant.
Katelyn was in her 40s when an implant enabled her to hear her children's voices for the first time.
My favorite sound.
I think the sound of my children's voices.
My children's voices are like music to me.
And then I have the added benefit of having one of my children singing and being a singer.
I think that that's my favorite sound.
The only time he takes that magnet off is when he's in the bathtub or swimming,
and it is the last thing that comes off when he goes to bed and the first thing that comes on in the morning, every day.
All right, now I need quiet.
It's easy to forget that a child as creative and expressive as Vaughn is both blind and profoundly deaf.
One day Vaughn and his best friend Heather were walking through the woods.
They thought they had music.
They looked around.
He spends lots of time listening to books on tape, which is really one of the major advantages of the cochlear implant.
I mean, it's hard to imagine what life would be like if he didn't have the implant.
Well, I would say you can do anything.
I mean, like, well, it's like normal people.
You can do anything.
You can do swimming.
You can play drums.
I mean, like, I was blinded.
It's not like you have all of this stuff.
I can remember the feeling of finding out that he was, at that time, severe to profound hearing loss and feeling, having a hard time believing it.
And then sort of just saying, okay, this is the way it is, and moving on and finding out about what our options were.
I think what was really significant was the decision to have a cochlear implant because we talked with a lot of parents and adults with cochlear implants.
And it was a real hard decision because it's an elective surgery and he was doing really well with the hearing aids, and so he was really on the line.
And one parent said to me, she said, I thought the cochlear implant would make my daughter different, but it really made her more the same.
And that was absolutely the turning point.
That was the decision was made.
It is true.
The cochlear implant has made you more the same instead of different.
Great.
I'm all set.
Hi, I'm Joanne and I go to middle school and I like it a lot.
I meet a lot of new people and it's really cool.
My dream is that when I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian because I like animals and I want to take care of them and help them.
The goal of oral education is to graduate a child out of oral deaf education, to learn, to make friends with hearing children as well as deaf children, to be like any other child.
Thousands of oral deaf children mainstream every year, as early as kindergarten, and often this process is harder for the parents than the kids.
I worry about mainstreaming, which I'm going to go into probably within the next month or two.
She's going to be okay and my main concern is her social, explaining to the kids, the other kids, the hearing kids, that she is hearing impaired.
And to ask her, what did you say?
And then her telling them, asking them for clarity, what did you say?
I didn't hear you.
We start going to the park, the neighborhood parks, and you know, Marigold asks the girl, what's your name?
You know, come play with me.
And now I don't have to tell her.
She's just like, mommy, I want to play with her.
I want to play with her, point over there.
I'm like, go ahead, it's okay.
And she feels comfortable, you know, and that's what I want for the mainstreaming is for her to feel comfortable with the other kids, you know, because here she sees everyone with either cochlear implant or hearing aid on, and she's, you know, okay with that.
But when she's there in the class and she might be the only kid or the second kid with hearing aids, then I don't want her to feel like she's different.
I want her to feel like you're just like them, nothing's wrong with you, you're just, you know, hearing impaired.
And it's not a big disability.
When the girls get older and go to mainstream school, I know the chances of there being another hearing impaired child in their class is slim to none.
The implant is fairly extensive as far as what they wear, the physical aspect of it.
Right now, Rachel's four and a half and in a mainstream preschool, and she doesn't know, she doesn't care, you know.
The magnet bit will fall off her head and she just pops it back on over her hair.
She wears a ponytail.
She's not concerned at all right now.
Abigail's more aware, but not concerned, just more aware.
But no, I don't think they'll have any trouble.
They can, I've always hopefully given them the skills to explain it.
When we're at the grocery store and someone asks me, it's amazing what they will ask, you know, what is that?
What is that?
And I tell them because I think if I give Rachel and Abigail a model of what it's like to explain it and to explain what it is, the other person's fine with it and Rachel and Abigail are learning.
So no, I don't think they'll be any trouble.
I hope not.
Taylor is profoundly deaf.
This was Taylor five years ago.
Can you tell me about your birthday party?
Party, party, party.
She made a face on your birthday cake.
One, two, three, wait, one, two.
Wait, faces, vertices, edges, which?
To what?
Today Taylor is mainstreamed at an elementary school and she is just like any other kid in her class.
She likes music, dancing, writing on her boogie board and hanging out with her friends.
Taylor does not need an interpreter and 90% of the time she is independent in the classroom.
This has a special name because it is not a flat rectangle, is it?
It's three dimensional, so it has a different name.
What are the places where the faces come together?
What do we call this place where the face comes together?
Ages.
Ages, right.
Twice a week a teacher of the deaf visits Taylor to provide any help she may need in school.
Faces, faces.
And how about the pointy areas?
Oh, this is a tough one.
Remember it starts with a V and it has three syllables.
Speech and language therapy do not end when a child is mainstreamed.
It is an ongoing process.
And I see it written all over your paper.
And no, I don't know how to say it.
Oh, you don't?
No.
Listen.
Vertices.
Vertices.
Oh, good speech.
Janet also helps Taylor overcome any issues she may be dealing with.
In this situation, Taylor can't see the teacher's mouth when her friend puts up her hand to answer a question.
How many Linda faces does a spear have?
I can't even put my hand up.
How was that for you when you had to ask Linda if she could not raise her hand so high?
Well, I didn't like it, but it was fine.
It turned out okay?
Mm-hmm.
Good.
I think that was really important.
I know that you didn't want to do that, but sometimes...
It was kind of funny.
It was kind of funny?
I like boogie-boogie and ride the horses.
Mainstreaming is to be a baseball player.
Mainstreaming is not without its painful moments.
Teenagers especially can be cruel.
Mark remembers when his deafness made him a target of unkind classmates.
I went from elementary school to senior high, and that was a moment of pain for me because a lot of the kids in school were not willing to make the accommodations necessary.
They made fun of me.
They actively went out of their way to cover their mouths or make sure that I could not see them when they were talking.
But that was extremely frustrating for me.
Mark today is a successful manager in Silicon Valley, living proof that despite such setbacks, oral deaf teenagers can learn to stand up for themselves and draw strength from their experiences.
So you want mustard and ketchup.
All right.
One with ketchup and mustard and one with ketchup and sauerkraut.
This decision that my parents made has really affected my life deeply because I wouldn't be right here if it wasn't for their decision.
I'm in a mainstream school environment, so I do have deaf friends, but I also have hearing friends too, and so that sort of opens up my social life a little.
I never thought that I was really different.
I just happen to have a wire that goes to my head and I'm carrying around a box.
It never really affected my life.
I've always had friends.
I've always had people who understood me, and it never really mattered to my life that I was different.
And sure, I am different.
Why does it matter?
Renee was mainstreamed in first grade.
Now she is a violinist with a youth orchestra, a competitive skier, and a freshman at Stanford University.
My parents decided to teach my brother and I to talk because they wanted to give us the same opportunities as my sister who is hearing.
They wanted to make sure that we could go to university if we wanted to play sports, do whatever we wanted.
Just mainly wanted to give us the option to choose.
It's important to remember that all the deaf people in this film are severely or profoundly deaf.
Sometimes that's hard to believe when you hear those like Renee speak.
She is in fact profoundly deaf without her hearing aids.
If they were greedy, their punishment reflected the fact that they were greedy.
When I was younger, when I was in about third grade, I decided I wanted to go to Stanford or Harvard.
And I never really thought about whether or not it was possible when I was younger.
I don't think anyone does.
But as I got older, I began to realize I really had to work to get in.
And just the fact that I was so adamant about going to Stanford and going to Harvard really kept me working hard.
And eventually I got in.
Kids are mean sometimes. They make fun of other kids.
And they have to find someone to pick on, especially in junior high and at the end of elementary school, sixth, fifth grade.
And they want to make fun of someone.
And so they'll think, oh, you're deaf.
I'm going to make fun of you because you can't, you know, you don't talk exactly the same or you can't hear me anyway.
And, you know, you have to really just learn that there's people that care.
And it doesn't matter what other people think, because as you get older, it stops.
You know, people realize, oh, everybody's different.
You know, it's not so bad to be different.
And, you know, people notice the other differences a lot more, you know, just even if it's racial or ethnic.
And people start to accept your differences more.
And, you know, deafness is just another difference that, you know, among many.
And so, you know, as you get older, people just learn to, you know, ignore it.
And basically when you're younger, you have to ignore it too.
You know, you learn earlier than other people.
Hi, I'm Liz.
Did you know that Heather White down with mixed America and she was deaf?
I want to talk with you about someone that came to visit us today.
Since she was a young child, Rebecca dreamed of being a teacher.
Rebecca was born profoundly deaf.
Now, at 20, she is inside of her goal, doing her student teaching.
Do you guys know what it's like to not hear?
No.
Why don't you try it? Why don't you cover your ears? Really, really tight. Really tight, tight, tight.
Can you still hear a thing?
No.
Can you hear anything?
No.
No.
There was one point in my life where my self-confidence would crush.
And that was last year when I was out in the field with the kids for my education class.
I called my field experience teacher and I told them, you know, I'm hearing impaired and I'm going to be in your classroom.
I'm going to be with you kids and I'm going to gain experience in the education field.
Can you hear my voice?
No.
Wow. So that's what it feels like to not hear.
I can't hear everything.
If you can't hear and someone calls your name, I can't hear.
Well, she gave me a hard time. She's like, you're hearing impaired. How can you be with kids?
How can you communicate with them? You need an interpreter to be with you?
And it really was a blow. It was like, maybe I can't do it.
Maybe she's right. Maybe I need to think of a different career to focus on.
And it was really hard and I was really sad.
But then I thought, I'm not going to let one person control where my life should go and what I want to do and what I want to be.
So I met her and I proved to her I can do it.
And I proved her wrong and she was just amazed by what I can do because of my disability.
Now I'm going to ask you a question. What is this?
Everybody show me your ear.
Everybody have to show me your ear.
When Miss Heather Whitestone was Miss America in 1995, I was just amazed.
She's hearing impaired.
I mean, can people really achieve that much and hear about other hearing impaired people that have very outstanding positions in life?
And I'm thinking, why should I sell myself short? Why should I make it harder on myself?
From Heather, I've learned how to be creative, to find ways to interact with the world,
to communicate with the world and find your way in the world.
And I think from Heather being Miss America inspired me.
And from then on, I'm thinking, if she can do it, I can do it.
Thank you.
Whoops.
Thank you.
Curtis Bright plays for Lana Bray's He's Down. If he can do it, I can do it.
How to Love.
Far out.
You've got to come back and help me.
This is the No Limits theater group. Each performer is a deaf child in an oral program,
but it doesn't stop any of them from giving public performances of original plays several times each year.
Not exactly the species we're looking for. It works! It works!
It works! It works!
Michelle founded the troupe when she realized most deaf children were not being chosen to participate in their school plays.
Michelle works extensively with the children on their speech.
Okay, what are we digging for? And you say answers.
To what?
Okay, who, David? Is Digger three?
Digger three right here.
To what? And then Digger four, John?
The secrets of life.
Say that one more time.
The secrets of life.
The philosophy of the No Limits theater group, confidence, commitment, perseverance, support,
sum up the journey of teaching a child to learn to speak.
Raise your hand if you know what confidence is.
Raise your hand if you know what confidence means.
That means I can do it. Can we say that really loud together?
It is a lot of hard work, but the results speak for themselves.
All the best!
Very nice job.
My dream is to be a pilot.
Over 20 years ago, another deaf child dreamed of flying.
Mark was intrigued by the possibility of flight when he visited the Wright Brothers Museum.
He started with kites. Later, he decided he wanted to become a pilot.
Mark had to overcome considerable prejudice and stereotyping from flying schools and doctors.
He even had to appeal the FAA before he finally qualified in 1995.
I think for me, flying represents the ultimate and personal freedom.
I can fly anywhere. I can fly with my friends. I can fly with myself.
For me to be able to see the planet from a total and different perspective is extremely rewarding.
I think it's really the ultimate and personal freedom.
Today, Mark has the chance to share his dream with David, who also dreams of becoming a pilot,
although he is afraid that his own deafness will prevent him from qualifying.
Mark has the opportunity to show David that his dream is within reach,
to show him an action, not just in words. What is possible?
It will be interesting to fly with me.
Mark didn't let his deafness stop him. He knew what he wanted and made it happen.
Any deaf child can do it. All it takes is hard work and a dream.
The dream of teachers and therapists whose dedication makes it possible for a deaf child to learn to speak and listen.
The dream of parents whose faith and hard work is rewarded beyond words.
And the dream of a child who knows no limits.
I had the dream and now it's the reality.
She's hearing things. She's experiencing things. She's hearing sounds.
She's noticing things and hearing sounds she's never heard before
and responding to them in ways that she never responded before.
As a message to the parents that these kids, they have a voice
and they need to give their children's voices a chance to speak and be exercised
and express their feelings with, to cry with, to laugh with.
We have living proof that it is working and we feel that we have brought him to the best that we can
and it's to teach him to speak and have the opportunity to speak for himself.
Big voice!
One, two, three, four, five!
All right!
Good job! High five!
I feel that as far as Elizabeth is concerned, there's an unlimited potential.
There's so much opportunity and, you know, it's going to be phenomenal.
I used to think about her being deaf, it was like a process.
I used to think about it 24 hours a day and now I hardly think about it at all.
I think about it as, you know, she's going to mainstream by kindergarten.
She's going to go to whatever college she wants to.
And so I've come full circle from thinking she wasn't going to do what she was going to do
to now she's going to do exactly what I thought.
She's not any different than before I found out.
I love you.
Auditory oral education is available to every deaf child and family in public
and private schools and learning centers throughout the U.S. and Canada.