Poster Boys

When you file your taxes this year, Easter Seals wants you to think of Garrison Syling — born in a muffled world where only the loudest of sounds could reach him.

Special Olympics Colorado would like you to consider Zach Graham, who takes to the basketball court, the softball field and the pool with joyous determination.

The two Colorado Springs boys are among the faces in public service announcement campaigns this year urging taxpayers to take part in Checkoff Colorado. The 30-yearold program allows taxpayers to make donations to select nonprofit organizations when filing their personal state income-tax forms.

Special Olympics is an international organization devoted to providing year-round athletic training and competition to people with intellectual disabilities. Over the past nine years, nearly $2 million has been donated to Special Olympics Colorado through Checkoff Colorado.

This is the first year that Easter Seals, devoted to helping people with disabilities, has been a “charity of choice” under the program. A key focus of Easter Seals Southern Colorado, which serves people in El Paso, Pueblo and Teller counties, is providing audiology services.

Garrison is one of three people spotlighted in Easter Seals’ statewide campaign; similarly, Zach is one of three athletes profiled in the Special Olympics campaign. Here are their stories:

Hearing aids open toddler’s world

There were so many sounds he couldn’t hear.

The rustling of leaves. The hum of the refrigerator. A softly spoken “I love you.”

Garrison Syling, 6, was born with conductive hearing loss, which results from problems such as an infection or a malformation of the outer or middle ear. A newborn hearing screening quickly detected the loss, but it took time for doctors to pinpoint the cause — a problem with the bones of his middle ear.

His hearing threshold was about 80 decibels — “which means you’re yelling pretty loudly for him to hear you,” says his mother, Glenda. A typical conversation is about 60 decibels; sustained exposure to sounds of more than 85 decibels is considered potentially hazardous for someone with normal hearing.

A co-worker gave the Sylings a pair of used hearing aids for Garrison when he was about 6 months old. They were “very antiquated,” Glenda says, and not a fit for his tiny ears, so she had to tape them to his head.

“But they helped a little bit so he could try to hear some of his world,” she says. And the family couldn’t afford anything better at the time, she says, noting that most insurance companies do not cover hearing aids for children.

At age 2, Garrison got an upgrade thanks to Eas- ter Seals Southern Colorado: a pair of digital hearing aids, valued at more than $5,000. Easter Seals has long worked to make hearing aids and services available to people of all ages and income levels.

Before then, Glenda and husband Gary had known little about the organization. “I thought Easter Seals was about crippled children,” Glenda says.

When Garrison returned home, it was like he was seeing it — or at least hearing it — for the first time, his mother says. His vocabulary, then only about 20 words, soared to between 600 and 800 words by the time he was tested about six months later.

One day he may be able to discard his hearing aids. Garrison has undergone three surgeries to rebuild the middle ear bones in both ears; the most recent operation was in December on his left ear. While he’s unable to wear a hearing aid in that ear while it heals, he continues to wear one in his right.

Though his hearing has improved to the point he could possibly function without the aid, it’s important for him to hear sounds as clearly as possible since he’s still learning language.

“There still are times where we have to raise our voice in order for him to hear us,” his father says.

Asked whether surgery hurts, Garrison says, “Kind of.”

“When I take that thing that you have to breath in, I don’t really like the smell of it,” he says of using an oxygen mask.

But the surgery’s behind him. Garrison, a first-grader at Jefferson Elementary School, is more interested in talking about his current fascination with American Indians, the Batman watch a friend just gave him and karate class, which he had to take a break from after surgery.

“The first belt I had was a white belt, and I passed it, and now I’m on my yellow belt,” he says.

11-year-old gains strength from power of ‘team’

For Zach Graham, an 11-year-old pint-size dynamo on the basketball court, it’s all about the team.

“It’s been huge for him to be part of a team,” his mother, Karen, says. “He’s ready for practice because team’s going to be there, and he’s ready for the game because team’s going to be there. He says ‘team,’ ‘team,’ ‘team’ all the time.”

Zach has Down syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects one in 733 births and typically causes some degree of mental retardation.

It’s his third year with Special Olympics. He also participates in softball, swimming and bowling, and last summer he gave golf a try.

Basketball’s probably his favorite sport, his mother says, but it’s hard to say.

“Zach’s sort of a ‘his favorite is whatever’s happening at the time’ kind of kid.”

Zach’s big moment came in his second season of basketball: He made his first basket.

“It was huge for him to get enough strength and everything for him to make that basket,” Karen says.

That first basket — he has made several since — came late in the game, coach Phil Prater recalls.

The ball rolled around a bit on the rim, then fell through the net. Zach was thrilled. So was Prater and fellow coach Bob Winters.

“I went out and actually picked him up and carried him off the court,” Prater says. “I was very happy for him.”

Zach, a fifth-grader at Otero Elementary School, has proved to be a fighter on the basketball court and off. When he was 21 months old, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Down syndrome is associated with an increased risk of leukemia, believed to be due to a gene defect found in Down syndrome children.

Zach underwent three years of chemotherapy.

“We almost lost him a few times,” his mother says. He remains in remission and doctors say the odds are good that the leukemia will not return.

Karen and Ron Graham, who also have a 2-year-old son, Riley, weren’t familiar with Down syndrome when Zach was born.

They followed their doctor’s advice to treat Zach as normally as possible.

“Don’t dwell on the fact that something’s wrong,” Ron says. “Just deal with it.”

Lately they’ve been working with Zach to develop his language skills.

“He does a lot of one-word utterances,” Karen says. “‘Drink’ instead of ‘May I have a drink?’ He just leaves out those words unnecessary to him.”

As evidence, when asked what he likes about basketball, Zach shouts out one word: “Points!”

Zach, Prater says, “is a very determined young man. He doesn’t let a little adversity get in his way.

He’ll get his bumps and bruises and he’ll get knocked on his backside every now and then, but he’ll shake it off and get right back up.”