Students, teachers, and staff at Campton Elementary in Campton, New Hampshire, have come together to support a deaf first-grader who’d been feeling isolated at school. The boy’s aide, Cheryl Ulicny, says that as the only deaf student in the district, seven-year-old Ben O’Reilly had limited ways to communicate and initially struggled to connect with classmates and teachers.
The change began when a few classmates started learning basic sign language to communicate with Ben, saying it was fun to play and talk with him. Soon, the entire class joined in, and teachers across different grades also began learning and using sign language, even when Ben wasn’t present. Over time, the effort spread throughout the school.
Ben’s adoptive mothers, Etta and Marlaina O’Reilly, say it’s been overwhelming to see the support their son has received, and Ulicny says it’s amazing to watch his world open up through communication. Ben’s parents note that he began to understand the value of sign language as more people around him used it.
Source: CBS NEWS
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