GREENSTONE'S JEWELERS
your Official Rolex Jeweler,
wants to remind you to turn
your timepiece ahead one
hour on Sunday, April 7.
Jordan Levin Hears
In A Silent World
Daylight seving
begins at 2:00 A.M.
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
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Lady
Oyster Perpetual
Oyster Perpetual
Air King
ROLEX
GREENSTONE7
CREATORS OF FINE JEWELRY SINCE 1925
(810) 642.2650
528 North Woodward • Birmingham, MI • 4 Blocks North of Maple Rd.
Monday Friday 10-5:30, Thursday Until 7, Saturday Until 5
Mary DuPrie Studios
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ike most toddlers, Jordan
Levin was full of energy, and
his parents, Mollene and
Marty, had to struggle to get
him to sit still for more than a few
seconds.
But Jordan differed from most
toddlers, including his younger
brother Brian, because his par-
ents needed his undivided atten-
tion to teach him to communicate.
Jordan was born three months
premature, weighed under 2
pounds at birth and spent the
first two months of his life on a
respirator. His parents didn't
think anything was abnormal be-
cause professionals told them to
expect Jordan's development to
progress at a slower-than-normal
rate.
But by the time Jordan was 2
1/2, even though he appeared to
respond to sounds, his parents
suspected a problem. They dis-
covered something wasn't right:
Jordan had profound a hearing
loss.
After being fitted with hearing
aids, Jordan was able to hear at
a 20 percent level, which he still
maintains. Without the aids, he
cannot hear even an airplane fly-
ing overhead.
The Levins, who live in West
Bloomfield, were told that those
with Jordan's level of hearing loss
are typically unable to speak.
They were also told their son
should learn sign language and
attend special classes.
The Levins, however, had oth-
er ideas. They took him to meet
with specialists around the coun-
try.
"Once we heard it was possible
for Jordan to learn to talk we
hung on and devoted ourselves to
that idea," Mrs. Levin said.
"There were times we wondered
if we would trdly be successful,
but we plugged away with our be-
lief. Everything we did became a
language-learning experience."
If the family went to the zoo,
they took pictures, put them in a
book and taught Jordan vocabu-
lary, speech and reading patterns
from the pictures.
Jordan, now 19, will tell any-
one who asks that his parents' ef-
forts paid off. Jordan speaks and
is able to read lips to supplement
what he cannot hear.
Recently, Jordan was recog-
nized for his ability to excel. He
was one of 73 winners awarded
a scholarship from the Alexander
Graham Bell Association for the
Deaf The Washington-based or-
ganization seeks to improve op-
portunities for the hearing
impaired. Scholarships were giv-
en to individuals with severe to
profound hearing loss who
demonstrate potential for lead-
ership, said Margaret Molineaux
of the Alexander Graham Bell As-
sociation.
Jordan, a freshman at Michi-
gan State University who has not
decided on a major, does not yet
know the dollar amount of his
scholarship.
In his MSU classes, Jordan
has to sit up front to watch and
hear the professor. He cannot
take notes, but someone does that
for him. Outside the classroom,
Jordan likes to water-ski and
snow-ski. He enjoys baseball and
hockey and played both sports in
high school. He spent four years
taught him to produce sounds the
way we hear," Mr. Levin said.
"We had to show him every
sound, and where to put his
tongue."
A baby, according to Mr. Levin,
goes through a normal progres-
sion of learning how to speak.
First the Levins taught Jordan
how to babble and then they
taught him words — five new
ones a day.
Mrs. Levin remembers crawl-
ing on the floor with her son to
teach him how to communicate.
For everything he did, she played
the role of sports commentator.
"It was an opportunity to teach
him," she said.
If Jordan was playing with a
PHOTO BY BILL HAN SEN ball, his mother would talk to
him, describing his actions:
"Jordan, this is a ball. The ball
is red. It bounces ..."
Jordan's first recognizable
words were spoken at age 6.
Two years later, he could
speak in sentences. Now Jor-
dan communicates as well as
any other student his age.
The only time he gets frus-
trated is when he gets a phone
call from someone he does not
know.
"There is something about
an unfamiliar voice," said Jor-
dan, who uses a speaker
phone so he can hear with
both ears instead of one. "I
don't know what it is, but Pm
unable to understand that
person." Sometimes he has to
Jordan Levin: Unhampered by hearing
ask the caller to slow down or
impairment.
call back when he knows
on the varsity hockey team and someone else will be around to
two years on the junior varsity help.
Although his grade school
baseball team at Andover High
School. At MSU, he is a member wanted Jordan in special-educa-
tion classes, his parents insist-
of the ski club.
Although Jordan is a natural ed their son learn in regular
lip reader, his parents encourage classes. Before Jordan could com-
him to listen instead of relying on municate, he was in preschool
lip reading. Sometimes - the with children who were hearing
Levins will put their hand in and speaking normally.
front of their mouths when they
His father finds it amusing
talk to him. "Jordan can read peo- that the head of the hearing im-
ple's lips in the mirror while they paired program in Jordan's mid-
are brushing their teeth," said dle school did not know who
Mrs. Levin. "He is so good at it." Jordan was.
Jordan, who describes himself
"So many sounds look the
same," Mr. Levin said, challeng- as an all-around, easygoing guy,
ing Jordan by mouthing two sim- does not think about his hearing
ilar-looking words. "He can see impairment.
"I really appreciate all my par-
the subtleties."
Jordan, however, does not ents have done for me," Jordan
want to be known for his lip-read- said. "It's a gift of life. I think
ing abilities and tries to discour- about it a lot, and there is no way
age friends, who are impressed I could have gone through the al-
by it, from asking him to demon- ternative. I can speak and do
everything I want, thanks to my
strate.
Jordan's parents didn't teach parents, and Pm happy. It's like
him to lip-read. It was something a dream come true. And not
that came to him naturally. "We many dreams come true." ❑