RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — The seventh grade has been a whirlwind for Alex Brown.
From relocating to Richmond and playing on the Test Intermediate School football team, the 14-year-old has had his share of new experiences.
He was even credited with saving someone’s life last December.
But perhaps the most significant experience during the school year has been that Brown, who was born deaf and without the ability to speak, was accepted like any other student at his school.
With the help of a translator, Brown is attending general education classes for the first time and has taken an active role in teaching his fellow classmates and teammates sign language.
“He loves it. He really loves it, and they seem to love him,” Amy Cheek, Alex’s mother, told the Palladium-Item (http://pinews.co/VB6H7h ). “He’s really taken to music. His music teacher called and said he was doing better than some of the hearing kids in class.”
Brown relocated to Richmond last year from Springfield, Ohio, where he had been living with his grandmother. He attended a public school system there where he was in mostly specialized classes and did not have opportunities to try out for school sports.
When Brown came to Richmond, Cheek said they distributed books full of signs to his teammates. They also have discussed establishing an American Sign Language club for the community.
By all indications, Cheek said, the move appears to be a success. Brown’s principals and teachers think so, too.
“I think he likes talking to the other kids with signs,” said Brenda Stinson, who translates every day for Brown in class. “They will ask him a sign and he will either know by what they’re doing in class or figuring it out in his head. If not, he’ll look for me to sign for him.
But at lunch, Brown is on his own. And he seems to do just fine.
“He sits with his buddies, cuts up and has a great time,” Principal Stacy Mopps said. “This kid is really cool.”
He’s confident, too.
“I know at the Halloween dance he was all over the girls,” Mopps said.
Although Brown might not be shy, it’s clear he’s modest. When asked about the December day he dialed 9-1-1 as his friend’s mother started to choke, he deflected the praise and instead had Stinson share the details.
“He said, ‘he had a cellphone and pushed 9-1-1,'” Stinson said. “So he left it (the line) open because he knows that they’re coming even if he didn’t talk.”
Test music teacher Kevin Van Note said Brown has been a welcome addition to the class. Van Note believes his presence has made the school a better place.
“One of the things that I think about when I see him interacting with other kids is they read about students that are deaf but they’ve never interacted or been with them,” Van Note said. “And to sit next to someone in the cafeteria and to have that kind of relationship, I think is awesome.
“I really think that that is great for other kids to learn about diversity. It’s not something that they see all the time.”
Cheek said she now has bigger aspirations for her son — college.
“We’re still trying to push that,” Cheek said. “He has good role models in the house. My daughter has straight A’s and plans to go on to college and he saw me go to college, so we’re trying to instill that in him.
“He loves to cook. He loves music, so we thought of some kind of trade. We will push that because we think education is very important.”
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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com