{"id":22052,"date":"2013-03-01T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=22052"},"modified":"2013-03-01T20:42:57","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T01:42:57","slug":"hearing-impaired-boy-gets-every-kids-dream-becoming-a-superhero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/03\/01\/hearing-impaired-boy-gets-every-kids-dream-becoming-a-superhero\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing-impaired boy gets every kid\u2019s dream: becoming a superhero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hearing-impaired boy gets every kid\u2019s dream: becoming a superhero<\/strong><\/p>\n

February 25, 2013<\/p>\n

By Kristina Sgueglia<\/p>\n

NEW YORK (CNN) \u2014 Five-year-old Anthony Smith didn\u2019t think superheroes wore hearing aids, until he became one.<\/p>\n

His mother, Christina D\u2019Allesandro, says the epic journey began in May, when her superhero-fanatic son, who is deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other, refused to wear his blue hearing aid because \u201csuperheroes don\u2019t wear hearing aids\u201d either.<\/p>\n

Desperate, she decided to consult the experts. She found a general e-mail address on the Marvel Comics website and sent a message \u201cinto the ethers,\u201d asking if there were any hearing-impaired superheroes.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, the mother of two was shocked to get an overwhelming response from Marvel, including comic book art that honored her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he first saw the comic book cover, he said, \u2018Oh my God, it\u2019s me,\u2019 \u201d she told CNN. \u201cHe was very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to make him an honorary Avenger,\u201d a member of the Marvel Comics superhero crime-fighting team, said Bill Rosemann, a Marvel editor.<\/p>\n

Two artists, Manny Mederos and Nelson Ribeiro, sent the D\u2019Allesandro family comic book covers featuring their very own versions of honorary Avenger Blue Ear, inspired by Anthony, whose blue earpiece gives him the power to hear a pin drop from the other side of a state.<\/p>\n

One cover features a younger Anthony and his buddy Hawkeye ready to fight crime. The other shows an older version of Blue Ear perched on a rooftop, tapping into his superpower and listening to a faraway call for help.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the young New Hampshire boy is being welcomed as a special guest at an event at the Center for Hearing and Communication clinic in New York City, where he will get to meet a fellow crime-fighting partner in the Marvel Universe, Iron Man.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why it was so easy for us to respond to this is because our characters, which were invented around the \u201960s, all have real challenges.\u201d Rosemann said.<\/p>\n

He talked about how each character \u201cbecame superheroes despite of \u2014 or because of \u2014 the challenges they face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under his elastic Spidey skin is a skinny Peter Parker, who constantly gets picked on at school, Rosemann said. As a boy, superhero Daredevil was blinded in an accident that also gave him a radar sense. And Iron Man first created armor to fix his heart, which he then developed into his famous suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe link challenges with their superpowers,\u201d Rosemann said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mantra is what (Marvel Comics chief) Stan Lee said: With great power there must come great responsibility. Our guys thought, \u2018If I have the ability to draw, I am going to use it to help someone like Anthony feel comfortable about his hearing aid.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

Rosemann and his team collaborated with Phonak, the maker of Anthony\u2019s hearing aid, and came up with a poster to be distributed in doctors\u2019 offices across the country in an effort to destigmatize kids with hearing aids. The poster, to be unveiled at Tuesday\u2019s special event, features none other than fearless Iron Man, whose message is that kids who use hearing aids are just like him because \u201cthey are using technology to be their best self.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be an Iron Man and Blue Ear team-up,\u201d Rosemann said about the event.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, all the attention has brought excitement and meaning for Anthony and his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this house, we are looking forward to meeting Iron Man,\u201d D\u2019Allesandro said. \u201cHe is a big Avengers fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience has given Anthony the confidence and the ability to talk about his disability, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes up to kids and says, \u2018Hey, I have a little ear and a blue ear. Do you want to play?\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

People have reached out to her, and she says her family is grateful that this experience has connected her and her son to a wonderful network of families with special needs children.<\/p>\n

When asked if there is a comic book series on the horizon featuring Blue Ear, Rosemann said, \u201cThere is nothing planned right now, but with so many people responding to Blue Ear, you never know what\u2019s next \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should just stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/wtvr.com\/2013\/02\/25\/hearing-impaired-boy-gets-every-kids-dream-becoming-a-superhero\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hearing-impaired boy gets every kid\u2019s dream: becoming a superhero February 25, 2013 By Kristina Sgueglia NEW YORK (CNN) \u2014 Five-year-old Anthony Smith didn\u2019t think superheroes wore hearing aids, until he became one. His mother, Christina D\u2019Allesandro, says the epic journey…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[17545,17547,14028,14018,17548,14027,1224,17552,24,14026,2750,17549,17544,14032,17546,14030,14017,10931,17551,14790,17550,17553,14021],"class_list":["post-22052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-anthony-smith","tag-avengers","tag-bill-rosemann","tag-blue-ear","tag-center-for-hearing-and-communication","tag-christina-dallesandro","tag-cnn","tag-daredevil","tag-deaf","tag-hawkeye","tag-hearing-impaired","tag-iron-man","tag-kristina-sgueglia","tag-manny-mederos","tag-marvel-comics","tag-nelson-ribeiro","tag-new-hampshire","tag-new-york-city","tag-peter-parker","tag-phonak","tag-spiderman","tag-stan-lee","tag-superhero"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5JG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18905,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/05\/30\/marvel-bullpen-assembles-to-help-mom-and-her-hearing-impaired-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":22052,"position":0},"title":"Marvel Bullpen assembles to help mom and her hearing-impaired son","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Marvel Bullpen assembles to help mom and her hearing-impaired son Note: to see the picture of Blue Ear - deaf character based on comic, see link below. 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