Smith, a 19-year-old south St. Louis resident, is used to coping with her situation. It was something she learned years ago. She already was able to read lips when her family discovered she was hearing-impaired as a toddler.

By age 3, Smith was equipped with hearing aids but still experienced difficulty hearing people. At 6, she received a cochlear implant for her left ear. It's an electronic device that provides a sense of sound and is designed for an individual who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. One section of the implant is placed under the skin and another portion is on the exterior behind the ear. She also wears a hearing aid on her right ear.

The mixture works well together for one-on-one interaction. If there is a group of people talking and someone is not facing Smith directly, it can be hard to detect where the sound is coming from and who is talking, she said. Once it's clear who is talking, she likes to face that individual so she can read lips and comprehend what is being said.

Smith has faced communication challenges all of her life but always persevered. She is an achiever.

She graduated May 23 from Webster Groves High, where she was on the honor roll all four years. She has worked part-time at New York & Co., a clothing store in South County Center. Smith also has earned four scholarships, which will cover her tuition and books while she attends St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. She is applying for more scholarships and will transfer to Galludate University in Washington D.C., a school for hearing-impaired and deaf students, in a few years.

"I'm ready to move onto college to become a lawyer," Smith said.

Smith was the first deaf student NiNi Herrmann, a special education teacher at Webster Groves High, ever had dealt with in her 36 years of teaching. Herrmann was impressed with Smith's accomplishments and her determination.

"Sonya is one of the most motivated kids I've ever met," Herrmann said. "She's conscious about asking questions if she doesn't understand."

Herrmann believes Smith's experience at a summer camp last year opened her eyes in terms of what hearing-impaired people could accomplish. It was a life changing experience for Smith. She attended a camp at Gallaudet University that highlighted law enforcement work, forensic science and courtroom proceedings.

"I met this lady at the university who was hard-of-hearing," Smith said. "She told me about being a lawyer. She is hearing-impaired and worked as a lawyer. We have a lot of connections because she's deaf."

Smith's grandmother, Bernice Etok, a retired social worker, approves of her granddaughter's future career.

"I think she's faced a lot of challenges being hearing-impaired," Etok said. "I think she's debated about a lot of career choices, and she has finally settled on being an attorney. I think it's a good choice. We know no matter what course she takes, she'll have the challenges in terms of communication."

People with hearing impairments can be productive members of society, said Stanton Jones, director of the cochlear implant program in the department of communications, sciences and disorders at St. Louis University School of Medicine.

Cochlear implants can allow a person to have close to normal speech and hearing patterns. He knows of an electrical engineer, architect, hairdresser and surgeon who are deaf or hearing-impaired, he said.

Jones suspects one challenge for Smith will be following conversations that switch between people very quickly.

"The only problem with having a cochlear implant is that it can be hard to localize sound and see who is talking," he said. "In a large courtroom there can be lots of reverberation, and the echo can make speech less clear."

Jeff Tucker, an associate attorney at Bryan Cave LLP, a business and litigation firm, believes certain types of law may be more difficult than others. He is a corporate lawyer who never sees the inside of a courtroom. His work involves mergers, acquisitions, securities advice and counseling and commercial transactions.

Being a trial lawyer could be more difficult than practicing corporate law because the courtroom may be bad acoustically, Tucker said. It could be difficult to hear the judge and jury and question the witnesses with others talking, he suspects. But he isn't sure because he is not in a courtroom setting.

Smith recognizes the challenge of being an attorney where communication is critical. Communication is an issue she has been coping with her entire life, but she is successful at it.

She has not decided which area of law she would like to practice. She just knows what type of clients she would like to assist in the future.

"I want to help deaf and hearing-impaired people," Smith said.

http://westcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/05/27/news/sj2tn20080527-0528web-lawyer0.ii1.txt