Ths story of a hearing-impaired child.

My name's Jordan Kyung Pearson, and I am 9 years old. I was born in Korea, and I was adopted by the Pearson family of Fort Worth, Texas, when I was just four years old.

I am hearing-impaired. I am profoundly deaf, and I communicate by way of sign language. I learned sign language when I was small, and I can make my wants or needs known by using my hands to make a particular sign. Each sign I make represents a word, and I can let people know what I want. But if they don't understand sign, I can either do finger-spelling, which is where I can spell out the word, or I can write what I want or need on a piece of paper. But thank God, my family knows sign language, as do many of my friends.

I have long, straight black hair, brown eyes that are almond-shaped, and a heart-shaped face. I am pretty, mommy tells people. I am also skinny, but I am not TOO short. A little, maybe, but I am nearly as tall as most of my classmates. Some of my classmates are shorter than me, but I am nearly the size of a normal fourth grader.

What do I like to do? I love to read and watch tv (I can; our tv has closed captioning on the bottom, and I can follow along with the program), I love to dance (I can pick out the rhythm by the feel of the vibrations), and I love to paint. I also love to rollerblade and skateboard with my friends at the skate park. In addition, I love to go to church. I go to Faith Pentecostal Church each and every Sunday, and I love learning about Jesus. I also love performing with the choir each and every Sunday. (I do the signs while they sing.) I also love helping Pastor Timkins with the sermon; again, I do the signs while he delivers his message to the congregation.

I may be deaf, and I may have trouble speaking (wouldn't you, if you never heard anyone speak?), but I am a normal child, and I love doing normal things. I am a very happy child, and I consider myself very lucky indeed! Especially now that I live in America, the land of the free!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!! :)