This Saturday, many eyes will be focused on the Belmont Stakes in New York, as Big Brown, a strapping bay three-year-old colt, attempts to become the first to win the Triple Crown in thirty years and thus go down in horse racing history.
Big Brown will be piloted by jockey Kent Desormeaux, who rode the horse to victory in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Kent has emerged in the racing world as one of the top jockeys of the past several years.
Kent Desormeaux waves to a cheering crowd after winning the Kentucky Derby upon the horse Big Brown
He’s also the father of a deaf son.
Kent’s son Jacob, who is nine years old, was born prematurely and later diagnosed as having Usher’s Syndrome – a genetic condition that causes hearing loss and progressive loss of vision. Jacob has been fitted with a cochlear implant and is taking speech therapy and auditory training; however, the family does know and use sign language also, as seen here where Kent’s wife Sonia signs to their son:
Kent’s wife Sonia signs “I Love You” to their son, Jacob
When Kent won the Kentucky Derby back on the first Saturday of May, Jacob was there along with his mother and his big brother Joshua to help celebrate – hollering “whooo!” and giving his father high fives. As Jacob’s grandmother Brenda described it:
It was so great to see him on Bill Stubblefield’s shoulders, shouting. He looked like the happiest kid on the face of the earth.
(Bill Stubblefield is a family friend.)
Interestingly, Kent himself has a hearing loss in his right ear… the result of a serious injury which occurred when he fell off a horse during a race and fractured his skull. So he does have some understanding of what his son experiences:
There’s the roar of the crowd, the starting gate rattles when they close it after the last horse is in…Hopefully, he’ll be able to feel those things, like I feel the ground shake when the horses are running. He’ll have to go to his other senses.
A happy father with his deaf son
As for Jacob, right now he’s just experiencing the excitement of seeing his father winning some of horse racing’s biggest and most prestigious events. After his dad won the Preakness, Jacob patted his mother on the shoulder and asked that all important question:
I wish daddy would buy Big Brown. Mom, can we buy Big Brown?
Unfortunately, Jacob’s mother answered with the typical maternal response…
“No… we can’t afford it.”
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Indeed a bright-looking lad. If the Deaf community is nice to him I’m sure he might be interested in contributing some to the Deaf community. I wonder if CochlearImplantOnline.com is clamoring. Lots of money involved in the horse-racing industry. Wealth and Oralists are all over them. Just keep that in mind while State-run schools and ideals are left in the dust.
As long as they give this kid enables BOTH accessible communications oral and sign language. That would be GREAT.
And as long as they DO NOT BAN ASL that which AGBell and CI industry and AVT clinic agencies think ASL could cause a kid to dump speech and hear over ASL. They are full of craps.
Wow, only a certain type of people will make a heart-warming personal story of a kid a platform for their vitrol.
Does everything have to be about oralism, AGB, AVT all the friggin’ time?
I agree with E.
This article was indeed posted to be that heart-warming personal story – not only about a kid, but about the love he and his father share… something we can all be thinking about with Father’s Day coming up soon.
I’ve met and talked to Kent Desormeaux personally, and it is clear that as hard as this man works at his career… his family is still his first priority. He speaks of Jacob with pride, and wants only the best for his son. It is Kent’s fondest hope that he can win the Belmont this Saturday, and thus gain the Triple Crown title – not just for himself, but for Jacob… “so he will have something special he can remember for the rest of his life.”
Yes, Jacob has a cochlear implant. Yes, Jacob is learning to speak and lipread and use auditory input. But the Desormeaux family did learn sign language when it was discovered Jacob is deaf, and they do continue to use it. They’ve also made an effort to understand deafness, something many parents don’t do.
Like I said, they want the best for their son. And if that means a combination of any and all methods that allows Jacob to achieve his full potential, so be it.
Let’s not degrade this into just another opportunity to continue the great Cochlear Implant Debate, or to discuss the pros and cons of speech versus ASL.
Like E says… it does NOT have to be about oralism, AGB, and AVT all the friggin’ time.
I’ll be watching the Belmont tomorrow, and I’ll be rooting for Kent.
And somewhere in the crowd, there will be a nine year old boy cheering for his dad.
That’s all that matters.
On the Ky Derby broadcast they mentioned that Jacob has Ushers as well
Hi, just saw the news on ABC about that family few hours ago, I decided when I get home I look up DeafRead to see if anyone had posted about this already.
I was at a sports bar when I saw that on TV and it didn’t have CC on so your post helped me follow. Thanks
I too will be watching Belmont Stakes tomorrow….Triple Crown is a big honor if Big Brown do win!
This story is in this week’s edition of People’s magazine. Interestling enough, the article focused more on his potential blindness not on his deafness.