Mary Jean Greenfield was worried. Really worried. At nine months, her son Henry wasn’t speaking. He wasn’t saying “mama.” And he wasn’t responding the way most infants do to the world of sound that surrounds them. So Greenfield took him to the pediatrician. “I think he needs to get his hearing tested,” said Greenfield. “Don’t worry about it,” replied the physician, chalking the concerns up to an over-anxious mother. But Greenfield didn’t stop worrying. She brought Henry back, after 13 months and after 17, and each time she got the same response from the doctor. A frustrated Greenfield finally took her now-nearly 2-year-old son to Hackensack Medical Center. They confirmed the worst: Henry had bilateral severe hearing loss. You can still hear the exasperation in Greenfield’s voice as she recounts that time in her life. “He was caught just in time,” Greenfield said. A child’s brain begins to lose its plasticity and adaptability around the age of two. Henry may have had severe speech problems had his hearing problem not been discovered. Since that time, Greenfield has learned of many other parents who have gone through the same problems she did. Henry now wears powerful hearing aids in both ears. He would be nearly deaf without them. Yet the 9-year old Liberty Community Charter School student is a dynamo of energy. He bounds around the Greenfield’s 150 year-old Summit Avenue house, plays the “can-can” on the piano, answers trivia questions on the Internet and takes pictures with a digital camera. He’s a bright, affable child who loves sports and will be portraying several roles in a play with other hearing-impaired children this weekend. But that doesn’t mean Henry is out of the woods yet. The play’s the thing Henry leads a normal life, by all accounts. He loves soccer, baseball and football. Randy Moss, the Minnesota Viking receiver, is his favorite player. “I want to be an athlete,” is his response to a question about career goals. Henry can read lips, but doesn’t necessarily need to look at you while you speak. Like many with hearing disorders, he has trouble distinguishing between “s” and “th” sounds. He refers to our sixth president as John Quimby Adams, a mistake his mother quickly corrects. This Saturday and Sunday, the No Limits Theater Group, a Santa Monica-based organization, will stage a performance entitles “Timeless Journey” in New Brunswick. Henry will play a major part in the play along with 11 other children. It’s a story about two children who are furiously trying to finish a project – during lunch – for history class. Henry gleefully lists his characters, which include Thomas Jefferson, an “evil cowboy” in the time of Wild Bill Hickock, William Clark, and, most importantly, “passerby.” One of his favorite lines in the production comes as a disgruntled George Washington on Mount Rushmore: “I’d like to go on the road and do some standup.” When asked by another former president why he doesn’t tell jokes on the mountain, Washington replies, “I need an audience.” It’s a line Henry now uses on his mother when he doesn’t want to practice the piano. Henry’s mother is ecstatic about the No Limits group because, as she’s learned, while there are a plethora of groups and activities for the completely deaf, there are few outlets and programs for the partially-impaired. No Limits has definite goals for its children, including improving children’s speech, language and auditory skills, building up a kid’s fortitude and showing the value of perseverance. A troubling loss While Henry has had his share of successes, in the last year-and-a-half he has lost more hearing, about 75 to 95 decibels worth. Doctors do not know the source of this loss or whether it will continue. Henry and his mother take it in stride. “I deal with what I can,” she sighed. And there’s little that can be done to stop it if it continues, she added. While the family looks for advances in medical technology, Henry remains undaunted. As the interview ends, both Henry and his 12-year old brother Tyler settle down on the floor to figure out the answers to an on-line quiz game. “Timeless Journey” a play by the No Limits Theater Group, will take place at the Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, on May 21 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. For more information call (732) 972-8874.
Finding his voice; Nine-year-old overcomes disability, will appear in play
