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(Rockville, MD - January 16, 2009) Hearing-impaired fourteen year-old April Bell set out to do something many wish they could – receive a coveted ticket to President-Elect Obama's inauguration – and she did just that thanks to the impassioned letters she sent to her Illinois Senators.
What makes April's story even more compelling is she's hearing-impaired and will take her story to Capitol Hill during her visit to DC and advocate for increased use of FM technology in public buildings which will help cochlear-implanted people.
April, who will be welcomed to Washington by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), began her inaugural quest by writing letters to Senators Obama, Durbin, and Rep. Danny Davis hoping to receive a ticket to the historic event scheduled for next Tuesday.
"I believe that I can represent hearing-impaired students [and] be a model of all that we can strive for and achieve," April's letter states. "Just like President-Elect Obama, who started out with disadvantages in life, hearing-impaired students can overcome their disadvantages." April is one of the thousands of people worldwide who because of hearings aids have become more fully integrated into society. April has been wearing hearing aids since age 5 and has permanent high-frequency hearing loss to profound degree.
April received inauguration tickets but then a new quest began. She saw an opportunity to educate President-Elect Obama on frequency-modulated (FM) systems; wearable devices that help transmit sound to people with a cochlear-implant. If Obama wore such a device, people with the implants who attend the inauguration would be able to hear his every word.
"It would mean a lot to me and the rest of the hearing impaired community if you would wear [a FM system] during your inauguration," April wrote in a second letter to President-Elect Obama. "I will be unable to hear your speech and pledge... Please consider wearing the FM. Sometimes a small effort carries enormous weight."
"April has admirable tenacity," ASHA President Sue Hale says. "Her advocacy for full inclusion as an audience member attending this historic inauguration is inspirational."
While she's in Washington, April will visit Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Counsel Michael Tecklenburg on Wednesday, January 21. April plans to advocate that all public buildings such as schools and theaters be equipped with FM systems.
"April might be hearing impaired but that hasn't stopped her from succeeding and fighting for causes she believes in," according to Judy LeDuc, an ASHA member and a member of ASHA's Financial Planning Board. LeDuc, a speech-language pathologist, treats April in Chicago. "I'm very proud that April has taken initiative in all that she does and know that her future is very bright."
April also will be keeping a video diary of her inaugural trip to DC and ASHA plans on posting footage from her diary on the ASHA Web site (www.asha.org) and other related sites.
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About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. http://www.asha.org/.
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