It’s not uncommon to get story ideas sent to me. I try and respond to all of them, some people are patient and some are a like Michael O’Connor who has a mission. I agreed to meet Mike and hear the rest of his story. He lost his hearing over a period of time. Some of the loss was caused from aging; some from years of being around loud equipment. But it was after an accident that caused him to lose his right arm when he noticed a more profound loss of hearing.
As I lost my ability to understand the spoken word, my world shrunk. It got smaller and smaller, I had to quit a number of things. ~ Michael O'Connor
O'Connor says he couldn’t hear high frequencies. He tuned out females and stopped listening to music. He told me his whole story. It touched me deeply when he became emotional over the fact that losing his hearing put him in total isolation. He was depressed. When he learned about Cochlear Implants he jumped at the opportunity and now he has a mission to spread the word and to help raise money for the program that gave him back his hearing.
I wouldn’t be the curious person I am without having questions. Being around people with hearing impairments has been a part of my life. My sister is a teacher for special needs children. She now works with blind kids but prior to that her career focus was on hearing impaired children. It’s through her that I learned there are many approaches to special needs and it isn’t easy. Hearing loss isn’t something to label as “one-size-fits-all”. I have several deaf friends who just want to communicate and raise awareness. I have friends with cochlear implants; I’ve seen the miracle of children hearing for the first time. But I can’t draw the line that this is for everyone. It’s good for those who want it and for those who qualify. It’s a great service that’s available right here in South Dakota.
I thought Mike O'Connor's story would make a great first feature story for my USD news intern, Levi Gutz. Levi embraced the assignment and got some great sounds, and interviews. It’s been fun teaching him about the finer points of story telling, production and presentation. I’m proud of his first story and looking forward to sharing it on Innovation this Friday. We’ll follow the story with a conversation with Dr. Jessica Messersmith who started the Cochlear Implant program at USD. We'll talk about who qualifies and the ups and downs of hearing loss.