GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – Beckett Tweet just started 7th grade at Fruit Cove Middle School.
He has a lot of interests. He plays the saxophone and is eager to join the yearbook club this year.
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His sights are set on one goal, in particular, a few decades from now. That is becoming president, as soon as 2046.
Beckett thrives in school. But even he said it’s been quite the journey.
He has a cochlear implant device because he is profoundly deaf.
According to several hearing centers, including ones in Florida, profound deafness is when someone cannot hear sounds below 90 decibels.
The cochlear implant is an electronic device that significantly improves hearing. It bypasses the part of the ear that is not working and directly stimulates the auditory nerves.
In Beckett’s case, the implant was his only option to be able to hear.
“It took me a lot of years of practice to get to where I am today,” he said. “You have to get used to it because your mind needs to process all of the stuff that is coming at you.”
His mother, Jillian, says Beckett failed his newborn hearing test.
One year later, just after his first birthday, he had surgery for the cochlear implant.
Jillian says the support Beckett gets through therapy and at school makes a difference.
“I know that when my son comes to school, he is going to be fully taken care of,” she said. “But not just taking care of it the basic needs, that he is driving and excelling here. That he has people what really care about him individually.
Someone who Beckett knows really well can relate to his experience. That is his dad, Aaron.
Aaron, who is also profoundly deaf, was inspired by his son to get cochlear implants at 31 years old. It’s a process that started 11 years ago.
“It developed my voice, my talking, my hearing, my listening skills,” Aaron said. “I am hearing words on the radio.”
Aaron considers it life-changing.
He grew up having to communicate mostly through sign language and had an interpreter in school.
Now, this father and son serve as role models to each other, even if that is at school where Beckett is a student and Aaron works in the maintenance department.
“If I was the only one in my family that had this, I would feel like I am alone in my journey,” Beckett said. “But getting the cochlear implant too helped me.”
“He is learning from me. I am learning from him,” Aaron said. “It is very interesting because I can see how he is doing and where he is going and his understanding with what he is doing. I will have to push myself harder to be on the same path.”
Adrienne Hilts is the assistant principal at Fruit Cove Middle School and speaks highly of this duo.
“He just cares about others,” Hilts said about Beckett. “He puts other people first before himself. He always has a smile on his face. Just a great student overall.”
Beckett has some accommodations in school, including some special technology.
His teachers wear a mini microphone that is connected electronically to his cochlear implants for him to hear clearly.
“Here in Florida, we were able to say this is what Beckett needs,” Jillian said. “We sat down and had a conversation with the team here at Fruit Cove Middle, and we all came together and said yeah, this is what the evidence shows. This is what he needs. This is what we need to do.”
“You would almost forget that Beckett has cochlear implants just the way that he presents himself,” Hilts said. “It does not hold him back. However, we are aware of it, and we are there to support him. Our mission really is to create and support students to be lifelong learners.”
Beckett also makes sure his seat in his classes gives him good access to his teachers.
He says he is also getting better with self-advocating. If he is struggling with something or needs additional help, he lets teachers and administrators know.