By Joe Mussomeli
My younger brother, Alex, has always had a hard time hearing in noisy spaces. Like many other children and adults with hearing loss, this problem persists for Alex even when his hearing aid and cochlear implant (CI) are worn.
Learning in a noisy environment has been a continuous challenge for Alex. School classrooms like his are filled with distracting sounds like shuffling papers, squeaking desks, and the hustle and bustle of students moving around the classroom.
In the classroom, Alex has a captionist who ensures that he gets most of what the teacher is saying. He also carries a small microphone, or mini mic, for teachers to talk into so that their speech streams directly into his hearing aid and CI. Together, these two tactics were by no means perfect, but they worked for Alex. Unfortunately, like every other student across the world, Alex’s in-person education routine was interrupted a few months ago.
In the spring, our high school announced a temporary shutdown due to COVID-19. As a result, schooling would migrate to video conferencing through Google Meet, branded as “distance learning.” The new concept worried my brother when we heard about it. For Alex, learning effectively in a regular school environment already required so much extra effort. He could only imagine the difficulty he’d face in the new virtual environment.
Accustomed to his in-person routine for learning with hearing loss, the notion of distance learning was initially daunting to Alex, 15.
The day that our school closed, Alex voiced his concerns to me on our walk home. He was nervous about being able to hear teachers clearly on Google Meet. An active learner, Alex did not want to be deprived of any opportunities to access new information. I did my best to reassure Alex that he’d be able to manage the transition. He decided he’d have to wait and see for himself.
A few weeks into our distance learning adventures, Alex and I reconvened on the topic. To my surprise, my brother was absolutely loving distance learning.
Alex recognized right away that there was significantly less background noise online than in person. On his computer, Alex easily streamed the audio into his hearing aid and CI using Bluetooth connectivity. This allowed Alex to clearly hear the teacher and grasp nearly every word, something that was more challenging in a typical classroom with noise created by his fellow students. Plus, Google Meet features real-time captioning, which Alex calls “surprisingly accurate.”
Alex performs his school work in the new “classroom” he’s grown to love.
Alex was especially appreciative of the changes made to the structure of his Italian class. The teacher divided the students into small groups, meeting with each group for a period of time. With this setup, Alex’s technological aids helped him clearly understand the lessons and fewer competing voices made it easier to participate in group conversations.
I couldn’t help but smile that day as Alex sat before me, excitedly detailing how everything was going well for him, and how he was able to hear clearly under these circumstances. We may not yet know the fate of education in the post-pandemic world, but I am taking comfort in knowing my brother is going to handle it well.
Joe Mussomeli is a high school student from Connecticut. His younger brother, Alex, was featured in Hearing Health magazine’s Summer 2015 issue.
