Imagine walking around school with earplugs in and blindfolded. Students frantically push their way through the halls,yet you are completely unaware of your surroundings. And while you have the option to see and hear what is

happening around you, sophomore Kyle Taylor doesn’t.

Born blind in Florida in 1995, Taylor grew up with hearing abilities. However, as he got older, he gradually lost the ability to hear. According to Taylor, he would sometimes lose his hearing for up to a week, only for it to return at random times. Now he wears hearing aids and has partial hearing in his left ear.

“If I take my hearing aids out, I can’t hear a thing, unless someone speaks directly in my ear,” Taylor said.

Yet Taylor doesn’t allow his impairments to prevent furthering his education. After moving to St. Louis in the summer of 2012, Taylor enrolled at Parkway Central. His class schedule includes alternative English, alternative Biology, World History and P.E.

“Kyle brings a lot to our class because kids are really interested in him. They get excited when they see how much he knows,” social studies teacher Mrs. Skylar Kim said.

Kim teaches Taylor’s World History class and wears an FM transmitter during her lectures. This transmitter helps transfer what Kim says to Taylor’s hearing aids. According to Kim, Taylor has a good sense of humor and likes to ask questions to understand all of the material.

“Kyle really enjoys history. He knows so much about everything, which makes him a fun addition to the class,” Kim said.

Taylor completes most of his assignments using Braille. When he finishes his work, Kim will have him read what he wrote aloud to her. Sometimes, Kim modifies his assignments so he can complete them orally.

“Kyle is fully capable of using Braille to complete his assignments,” Kim said. “We are all lucky to see and interact with someone who is capable of doing something that we can’t.”

Taylor also participates in the work program Maryville University. He helps in the dishroom and the cafeteria by sorting silverware and wiping tables. Special education teacher Ms. Amy Brecher explained that the goal of this program is to help students gain experience working outside of school.

“We aren’t teaching Kyle to be a dishwasher. We are trying to help him learn job behavior and how to be responsible,” Brecher said.

Along with his regular classes, Taylor meets twice a week with a mobility specialist and a vision itinerant. His mobility specialist helps him learn familiar routes around school. The vision itinerant works with Taylor on his Braille skills and with a new device, the Deaf-Blind Communicator. The DBC will enable Taylor to responds to texts in Braille.
“The specialists help Kyle become more independent,” Brecher said. “Since he’s been here, Kyle has built good social relationships with other kids in his classes. The other students really accepted him when he got here.”
Senior Katie Gates, one of the P.E. mentors in Taylor’s class, agrees and adds that Taylor always gets along with others.

According to Gates, mentors are typically paired with one to three students each class. After being paired with Taylor during first semester, Gates learned a lot about his personality.

“The cool thing about Kyle is that even though he is blind and is hard of hearing, he can remember every little thing you tell him,” Gates said. “He can even quote movies to their entirety.”

Taylor has a particular taste in music. He enjoys soft rock, classic rock and heavy metal. When he listens to his music, he uses Bose headphones to help him hear. According to Taylor, these headphones help the quality of the music. Another interest of Taylor’s is action movies. Some of his favorites include  “Joe Dirt,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “Time Machine.”

“I like movies about the future a lot,” Taylor said. “I’ve always wanted to invent the time machine. I want to travel to the future. I want to know when time ends.”.

In regards to the future, Taylor is unsure of what he wants to do after high school. One thing he is certain about is that he wishes to travel the world. Places like Western Australia and islands off the coast of Madagascar have always interested him.

“I think it would be interesting to see what different places in the world look like,” Taylor said.

Another part of Taylor’s future includes the possibility of new sight and sound devices. Although he doesn’t know when these devices will come out, Taylor is confident that inventors will be able to create something to restore his sight and hearing.

“It would be cool to eventually be able to see out of my own eyes and hear out of my own ears again,” Taylor said.