A Little Boy Was the Only Deaf Student in His District. His Classmates Changed Everything.
Ben O’Reilly is seven years old, deaf, and until recently, almost completely alone at school.
A first grader at Campton Elementary in Campton, New Hampshire, Ben has special needs and relies on sign language to communicate. The problem? New Hampshire is one of the only states in the country without a dedicated school for the deaf, and Ben is the only deaf student in his entire school district. Outside of his aide, Cheryl Ulicny, there was virtually no one in his school community he could talk to.
“He didn’t have relationships with his peers or teachers, for that matter,” Ulicny said. “He was very alone. And he acted very alone.”
That started to change when a few of Ben’s classmates, including a first grader named Reid Spring, began picking up some basic signs. Reid’s reason was simple and kind of perfect.
“If he’s your friend, you can play with him, and he’s my friend,” Reid said.
That small spark caught. Soon the whole class was learning sign language. Then other teachers in other grades started taking classes. Staff members began signing even when Ben wasn’t in the room. An entire school community quietly decided that one little boy was worth the effort.
Ben’s adoptive mothers, Etta and Marlaina O’Reilly, were overwhelmed when they saw what was happening.
“It’s incredible,” Etta told CBS News. “I could barely breathe. It was just so overwhelming.”
The impact on Ben has been profound. Where he once moved through his school day largely invisible, he now has a community that speaks his language, literally.
“You could just watch his world open up with communication,” Ulicny said. “It was amazing.”
In a world that can feel discouraging, a classroom full of first graders in a small New Hampshire town just showed the rest of us how it’s done.
Comments