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April 15, 2009
Deaf teen eschews limitations, earns Boy Scout honors
Brian Hertneky, 17, and his father Tom sit facing each other in the living room of their Bethel Park home as Mr. Hertneky relays questions to his son through sign language.
Born deaf, Brian has enjoyed a childhood filled with the activities all children participate in, even Boy Scouts, for which he has a special love and for which he recently received a high honor.
Brian, son of Tom and Sue Hertneky, joined Cub Scouts in first grade, working his way through the ranks and will shortly be getting his Eagle Scout Award. He recently received the highest honor for members of the Order of the Arrow, the Vigil Award.
He had no idea when he walked into the Peters Township High School for an Arrow banquet that he would be getting this prestigious award.
"I was very surprised and happy," he signed and his father explained.
The Order of the Arrow is a separate organization within Boy Scouts. Members are nominated by their peers for induction and the society uses American Indian traditions and ceremonies to recognize scouts. Ordeal is the first level a Scout achieves to enter this fraternity; Brotherhood, second; Vigil, the last. It takes at least two years after reaching Brotherhood to achieve Vigil level.
During much of the two days of Ordeal training, candidates cannot speak.
Brian smiled as he signed about his experience. "It was a little easier for me because I can do body communications better than other kids."
Brian has discovered the same things being a member of Troop 215 that all Scouts do.
"It's helped me with many things, how to build a fire, if I was lost in the woods how I could survive. If I go out camping, I know what to do from what I learned in Boy Scouts."
Some of his friends in Scouts know sign language, and his scoutmaster has been very helpful in making the troop inclusive.
Brian's father cites statistics that say some 90 percent of deaf babies are born to hearing parents who carry a certain recessive gene.
Brian is a senior at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, in Edgewood, where he has studied since he was a toddler.
Next year he'll attend the National Technology Institute for the Deaf, part of the Rochester Institute for Technology in Rochester, N.Y. He plans to focus on computers and technology.
He signs that he is prepared for college from what he has learned at the School for the Deaf as well as from Scouting.
"[Scouting] changed me to be a leader, not a follower," he signed.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09085/958338-55.stm
Posted by 4HL on April 15, 2009 7:49 AM
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