Alex's Story

Alex Warren is a high school senior with a cochlear implant who learned to speak with the help of Cued Speech. (For more information on Cued Speech, visit the National Cued Speech Association website.) Next year, Alex will begin working toward a college degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a top engineering school. Here is his story:

I was born deaf in 1989. My parents didn’t know about it the time until when they noticed that I didn’t respond as normally as other babies at my age did. That was when they consulted a doctor and concluded I was deaf. My parents were told by everyone (parents of deaf children, doctors, and school staff) that I either get a cochlear implant or not get one. [They were] also told I should learn sign language, but my dad knew it wouldn’t work well. So my mom found a book at the library about cued speech and she liked the idea of using the hand to display sounds rather than words themselves. So my parents and my transliterator at school used cued speech. As for my implant, I had the surgery when I was five years old because the doctor who performed the outpatient surgery recommended that I get the implant as soon as possible because children adapt easily to the implant rather than adults who receive the implant later in life. As I grew up with the implant, I had to learn how to adapt when conversing with hearing people and when teachers were talking in the classroom with his/her attention focused on a large group of students.

I am graduating high school in the top 10% of my class with a diploma and a career passport from the college tech prep program Manufacturing/Pre-Engineering Academy. I did an internship in high school, which was my first job, in a machine shop where I learned the manufacturing processes of fabricating tools. This experience exposed me to the world of engineering and how the manufacturing industry operated. I will be doing another internship working as an engineering aide for the Air Force Research Laboratory. This fall, I will be going to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univeristy in Florida to major in Aerospace Engineering.

I would like to share my story so parents will understand what opportunities there are for their deaf children and for deaf adults as well, and I hope this condensed biography will inspire deaf children to realize they can do anything. Don’t hesitate to ask me any more questions.