My nephew, Nicholas, was born deaf. He received his first cochlear implant when he was four years old. At nine, he received his second implant. He is now sixteen years old. He was taught sign language from the start and that is often used at home. Some of his friends know a little sign language.

 

Nicholas has been very fortunate in having a personal interpreter at school. This has been his primary accommodation for his learning. Like most people, interpreters get sick. When this happens and there is no substitute available, Nicholas is left with few alternatives. He has used a frequency-modulated (FM) system, which is basically a technology that uses wireless radio frequencies to transmit audio signals directly into his cochlear.  This system helps eliminate background noise that is picked up by cochlears/hearing aids because the teacher wears a wireless microphone. Nicholas doesn’t care for the FM system because teachers often forget to turn off the systems and he is subject to personal conversation, breathing, and even bathroom breaks. He also has Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) available to him via an app, P3 Mobile, on a laptop or iPad. This works well for one-on-one conversations, small groups, or a quiet classroom.

 

Today’s learners are often connected to podcasts and videos as part of their learning. While Nicholas reads lips very well, often these podcasts and videos aren’t merely someone just speaking directly to the camera and sound quality can vary, as well as background noise. So closed captioning is required. Nicholas says that many of the closed captioning tools are inaccurate. He even told a story about an in-class video that the teacher set to closed captioning and swear words were scrolled across the screen when really there were no swear words in the video.

 

Nicholas also participates in sports…namely swimming and golf. Golf is easy until it rains. Cochlears can’t get wet, so Nicholas will either wear a hat that will cover his cochlears or remove and put them in a dry pocket of his golf bag. His coach also understands if he needs to take cover inside. Swimming is a little more difficult. Remember, cochlears can’t get wet, so Nicholas is left with no hearing while he is in the pool. Coaches yell out instructions while swimmers are swimming or as they exit the pool. Nicholas has to rely on his lip reading, if the coach is looking at him and he’s looking at the coach. This situation gets frustrating for Nicholas and the coach.

 

Nicholas plans to attend college when he finishes high school. Right now he thinks he wants to either go to a deaf and hard of hearing university, or attend a college where he can study drama.