Miss-Delectable
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http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050419/News/104190010
Third grader Gerardo Torres is one amazing kid.
He tells his story best in a piece he wrote entitled "I Hear Quiet."
"When I was born I could not hear. My mom and dad were very sad. I was little when I had to learn sign language. It was hard to learn. I went to school in Mexico and I learned a few signs in sign language but I didn't learn to speak.
"I was seven when my family came to Nevada. I had to say goodbye to my Grandma and my two dogs. I cried as we drove away.
"In Fallon I had to learn to sign in American Sign Language and to speak words. I have learned a lot since I have been in Fallon.
"I just got hearing aids and now I hear some sounds. Where there is noise I hear rain. When it is loud I turn my aid off because my head hurts.
"I have special teachers that help me a lot. I learn speech, sign language, reading and math. I like my teachers. Ms. Joy has helped me for three years. When I grow up I want to be a teacher. I will teach other people sign language."
Gerado's story recently won second place in the Reading Rainbow contest sponsored by KNPB, Reno's public television station. The contest was entered by about 1,000 Nevada students in grades kindergarten through third. He is invited to a party at the station on Thursday.
Even though Gerardo, 10, has been diagnosed as severe to profoundly deaf, the shy youngster isn't waiting until he matures to become a teacher.
He has taught his parents American Sign Language. Now that he can speak fluently, he reads to his younger brother Gustavo. Gerardo also shows his friends and teachers at West End Elementary School how to sign.
Third grade teacher Kathleen Williams and sign language teacher Joy Steiger both rave about Gerardo's insatiable desire to learn.
Three years ago, he knew only a few signs and could speak a handful of words in Spanish. He had one hearing aid but it was ancient, creating more background noise than sound.
His world began to make sense after a kind benefactor, a northern Nevada man in the medical profession, paid the $3,000 cost of hearing aids for Gerardo. Speech therapy sessions started showing rapid results. He questions every new sound - the tapping of a pencil by another pupil. The noise scissors makes when it slices through paper.
The child went from a silent existence to hearing dogs bark - which he said scares him - and roosters crow, which he describes as "very loud." He mimics the cluck of hen and talks about finding a pinkish-orange egg.
His speech is remarkably clear for a boy who barely vocalized when he came to Fallon.
Steiger attributes Gerardo's rapid progress to his intense curiosity and hunger to learn. She said she would teach him a new sign in the morning and he would be using it repeatedly that afternoon.
"This child gives 100 percent every day," she said. "He wants to know everything. He's a very neat little boy."
She remembers the first time she met Gerardo for a sign language lesson. Steiger was wearing a flag pin that day and Gerardo immediately pointed to it and wanted to know how to say "flag" in sign language.
"That's the first sign he ever did. He copied me," she recalled. "He learned to speak because he has such an enjoyment for life. He loves life. He succeeds because he does not stop trying."
Once he learned sign language as a way to communicate, stories from the past came pouring out of the child, said Steiger.
"He had all these thoughts in his head and couldn't get them out," she said.
Gerardo is now learning to read lips.
He is the son of Gerardo Sr. and Josepha Torres. He has a younger brother, Gustavo, and a sister named Jennifer.
Williams, who enjoys Gerardo in her classroom, believes her student is gifted. She wanted him tested for the Gifted and Talented Education program but there is not a test available for deaf pupils, she said. Williams said the news about Gerardo's second place win in the writing contest brought her to tears.
"He's really quite brilliant," said Williams. "This is an incredible honor for him, for the deaf community and the Hispanic community."
Third grader Gerardo Torres is one amazing kid.
He tells his story best in a piece he wrote entitled "I Hear Quiet."
"When I was born I could not hear. My mom and dad were very sad. I was little when I had to learn sign language. It was hard to learn. I went to school in Mexico and I learned a few signs in sign language but I didn't learn to speak.
"I was seven when my family came to Nevada. I had to say goodbye to my Grandma and my two dogs. I cried as we drove away.
"In Fallon I had to learn to sign in American Sign Language and to speak words. I have learned a lot since I have been in Fallon.
"I just got hearing aids and now I hear some sounds. Where there is noise I hear rain. When it is loud I turn my aid off because my head hurts.
"I have special teachers that help me a lot. I learn speech, sign language, reading and math. I like my teachers. Ms. Joy has helped me for three years. When I grow up I want to be a teacher. I will teach other people sign language."
Gerado's story recently won second place in the Reading Rainbow contest sponsored by KNPB, Reno's public television station. The contest was entered by about 1,000 Nevada students in grades kindergarten through third. He is invited to a party at the station on Thursday.
Even though Gerardo, 10, has been diagnosed as severe to profoundly deaf, the shy youngster isn't waiting until he matures to become a teacher.
He has taught his parents American Sign Language. Now that he can speak fluently, he reads to his younger brother Gustavo. Gerardo also shows his friends and teachers at West End Elementary School how to sign.
Third grade teacher Kathleen Williams and sign language teacher Joy Steiger both rave about Gerardo's insatiable desire to learn.
Three years ago, he knew only a few signs and could speak a handful of words in Spanish. He had one hearing aid but it was ancient, creating more background noise than sound.
His world began to make sense after a kind benefactor, a northern Nevada man in the medical profession, paid the $3,000 cost of hearing aids for Gerardo. Speech therapy sessions started showing rapid results. He questions every new sound - the tapping of a pencil by another pupil. The noise scissors makes when it slices through paper.
The child went from a silent existence to hearing dogs bark - which he said scares him - and roosters crow, which he describes as "very loud." He mimics the cluck of hen and talks about finding a pinkish-orange egg.
His speech is remarkably clear for a boy who barely vocalized when he came to Fallon.
Steiger attributes Gerardo's rapid progress to his intense curiosity and hunger to learn. She said she would teach him a new sign in the morning and he would be using it repeatedly that afternoon.
"This child gives 100 percent every day," she said. "He wants to know everything. He's a very neat little boy."
She remembers the first time she met Gerardo for a sign language lesson. Steiger was wearing a flag pin that day and Gerardo immediately pointed to it and wanted to know how to say "flag" in sign language.
"That's the first sign he ever did. He copied me," she recalled. "He learned to speak because he has such an enjoyment for life. He loves life. He succeeds because he does not stop trying."
Once he learned sign language as a way to communicate, stories from the past came pouring out of the child, said Steiger.
"He had all these thoughts in his head and couldn't get them out," she said.
Gerardo is now learning to read lips.
He is the son of Gerardo Sr. and Josepha Torres. He has a younger brother, Gustavo, and a sister named Jennifer.
Williams, who enjoys Gerardo in her classroom, believes her student is gifted. She wanted him tested for the Gifted and Talented Education program but there is not a test available for deaf pupils, she said. Williams said the news about Gerardo's second place win in the writing contest brought her to tears.
"He's really quite brilliant," said Williams. "This is an incredible honor for him, for the deaf community and the Hispanic community."