You have to be a good listener when you have hearing loss

Chance is quite the little sportsman. He has been playing both basketball and soccer the past few weeks.

Chance has played basketball before, but this year, he is playing in our city's new recreation center. The new building has one huge basketball playing area that they divide with big nets into different courts for the kids to play in.

A high ceiling covers an upstairs track that can look down on the basketball area. There is sound bouncing all over the place.

Chance's game, separated by one big net, was full of balls bouncing, crowds cheering and coaches shouting.

As Chance was moving in the court, his coach started calling his name and telling him to move down towards the basket. I thought to myself, "there is absolutely no way Chance is hearing that." Chance turned though! I was flabbergasted. Chance looked over at his coach and then moved down court. I figured out later, that Chance had been able to pick his name being called out of the din which is amazing all by itself, but had not heard what the coach had said but rather deduced what was being said as his coach was frantically motioning down court.

I asked Chance after the game if he could hear what the coach was saying and he said no. He could hear his name but not the rest. Chance is a smart cookie though and has learned out of necessity to pay attention to cues other than solely relying on his hearing.

After the game, we decided to talk Chance's two coaches and tell them that Chance could hear when they were in huddle and got instructions that way, but as far as hearing when the game was going on, he probably didn't catch much.

The coaches were fine with that and told us that Chance actually listened better than most of the other kids..

I think that sometimes the deaf kids learn to really listen better than kids with normal hearing They have to. Chance does not have the luxury of being able to tune out or half listen and then catch back up to what is being said. He has learned that he needs to pay attention if he wants to know what is going on. Several people that interact with Chance have commented that he listens well. He even brought home a calendar this week from school that he had earned by filling up a good listening card.

I think Chance being deaf has made him a good listener. I have noticed that the other deaf and hard of hearing kids in Chance's class tend to focus on listening more attentively than their peers with no hearing loss. They have to, but it really helps them get the most of what is going on around them I think. When I help in Chance's class once a week, I end up helping the kids without hearing loss more than the kids with hearing loss. The kids without hearing loss haven't had to pay as close attention to what is going on.