Hearing impairment doesn’t inhibit Seymour teen

Emma Stone could be described as a typical teen.

Her life revolves around family, school, extracurricular activities and friends, and her plans include attending college after high school.

She wants to pursue a course of study focusing mainly on her drawing skills, with an eye to perhaps becoming a graphic illustrator or a game designer. She's been drawing for quite some time, with her most recent interest being animé.

"That's what I draw nowadays," said Stone, a sophomore at Seymour High School.

She laughed, then, as she recalled past artistic endeavors, including an oil painting of SpongeBob SquarePants that she sold.
"I got $10 out of it," she said.

Another time, as she sat drawing at Bustock, "A little girl said, ‘Give me that,' and I gave (the drawing) to her. She brought her mom over and her mom gave me $5. I blew it at Papa John's."

Stone said her college plans are shaping up as going to Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus for two years, then attending Indiana University at Bloomington for two years.

She also has another educational option - attending the Rochester Institute in New York. The school is especially geared to students who, like Stone, are hearing-impaired, and offers such things as free interpreters and free notetakers. The school also is open to students with normal hearing.

Diagnosed as being hearing-impaired as a small child and eventually fitted with hearing aids, Stone, at only 16, already speaks with the wisdom of experience about the importance of joining together the hearing and the hearing-impaired communities.

"The hardest part of growing up was trying to make friends," she said. "You know how judgmental little kids are.

"Everyone judges a book by its cover. I just hate that. They need to look inside. They'll have a lot more fun than looking at the outside and going ‘Ew-w-w.'"

As Stone talked Tuesday about growing up, she displayed both a mature matter-of-factness about life's difficulties and an effervescent determination to live it to the fullest.

Along with her enjoyment of drawing and reading, she has been active in sports, including track and field and softball. Since seventh grade, she's been in band, where she plays the bells.

She lives in Seymour with her father, Robbie. Her mother, Tammi, died of a brain tumor four years ago, and Stone treasures some special memories of the time she had with her mother.

"When I was in preschool, she quit her job to hang around with me," Stone said. "I loved that. She and I did this little volunteer thing over at Lutheran Community Home," she said, recalling taking water to the residents at the home.

Her voice again taking on a matter-of-fact tone, Stone summed up her take on life in general.

"People with hearing loss, or without hearing loss ... their lives are basically the same. It just depends on what they're going through."

She credits Peggy Frolinger with helping her in her early years at school with things like learning to focus her attention in class. Jay Cherry, who also works with the hearing-impaired, has been a big help as well, including facilitating her attendance at the American Sign Language Exposition.

Stone recently was fitted with new hearing aids that not only improve her hearing, but are equipped with features like a radio switch and a mute button "for fire drills," she said, laughing. "I just click mine off and smile at everyone" when the shrill fire alarms sound, causing most people to wince.

One of the few drawbacks of the new hearing aids is that she could not get them with ear molds that come in a variety of colors.
With the school year soon to end and summer to begin, Stone is already contemplating her latest goal - employment.

Stretching her arms up and laughing, she made one final assessment.

"My life is just perfect," she said. "All I need is a job."