Born-deaf Dunbar second-grader wins UIL prize for storytelling
Posted: Sunday, December 19, 2010 12:15 am | Updated: 6:47 pm, Sat Dec 18,
2010.
By MELISSA CRAGER/The Lufkin Daily News
To win a medal in a University Interscholastic League (UIL) academic
competition is viewed as an accomplishment for any second-grader.
For Kade Carr, 7, his fourth-place medal in storytelling is a testament to
years of speech and auditory therapy for the boy who was born profoundly
deaf.
Carr’s parents, Jason and Beth, discovered their son was deaf at 13 months
old. Four months later he received a cochlear implant in his right ear at
the Houston Ear Research Foundation. For the next two and a half years, Carr
went through intensive and regular auditory verbal therapy to learn how to
use the device and rely on his newfound ability to hear.
“Auditory verbal therapy teaches parents how to teach their kids,” Beth Carr
said. “There’s a misconception that once the child receives a cochlear
implant you’re done. Everything we did every day was a lesson in hearing.
Toys became learning tools. It was constant for us.”
The storytelling competition requires students to hear a story that is read
to them and then repeat it with as much accuracy and emphasis as possible,
Carr’s Dunbar Primary teacher Kathy Goehring said.
The precocious child said he enjoyed competing and likes to tell the
stories.
“I like my medal. I was a little nervous, but it was good,” Carr said.
Beth Carr said for her son to accomplish something like this is beyond her
wildest dreams.
“He doesn’t see himself as different, but he doesn’t realize how huge this
is, either,” Beth Carr said. “This is not just about him, but about what is
possible for kids with cochlear implants. Early intervention is key.”
The Carr family moved to Lufkin from Houston two years ago. During their
time in Houston, Beth Carr said there were resources all around them.
“When we found out that Kade was deaf, I didn’t know anyone who was deaf,”
Beth Carr said, “but we had such a great support system. Had we not been
there, I don’t know where Kade would be right now (in his speech abilities).
Knowledge is power. I learned everything there was about it. I found that I
knew more than some of the ‘experts’ because I did so much research.”
Carr is now a member of the Dunbar Primary Destination Imagination team and
in the Tiger Tunes singing group. He is a purple belt in taekwondo and loves
to play soccer. He made all As last year.
Goehring said the second-grader is an exceptional student.
“He is a very strong reader and very bright,” Goehring said. “He works hard
and is very social. He is reading chapter books and sailing through them.”
Carr relies on his cochlear implants, which send digital pulses to stimulate
the auditory nerve, to participate in the world around him. Goehring wears
an FM system that directs sound specifically to Carr’s implant.
“It’s important to him, because he is so smart, to do a good job,” Goehring
said. “He’s getting something out of it. He learned how to be successful at
an early age and that will carry through his life. He’s no different than
any of my other kids. He is conscious of listening, and he lets me know if
he doesn’t hear something.”
Beth Carr encourages any parent with a deaf child to seek out help and
information constantly.
“Fight for what you know is right,” Beth Carr said. “Don’t be afraid to
reach for more. What you expect is what they will reach.”
Melissa Crager’s e-mail address is [email protected].
Source:
http://lufkindailynews.com/news/local/article_c3bac3a0-0b08-11e0-be2b-001cc4c03286.html