by Barbara Pratt
Ryan Mort was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of four. Doctors determined that he had been born with the condition, although his mother’s pregnancy was full term, and she never smoked or drank alcohol. “It just happened,” Ryan says. “My parents noticed the television was a little too loud, and I was asking ‘what?’ a lot. I was making up my own words to the nursery rhymes and children’s songs I would listen to.”
“He was a very healthy boy,” his mother Mary says, “reaching all of his milestones within normal limits. While at his four-year-old checkup, he failed his hearing screening. The family was very surprised, as he never misarticulated many words, and his speech was clear from the onset. As a special education teacher, in retrospect, the only identifier that he was having hearing difficulty was that he would turn up the television. He would also perceive some (not many) words incorrectly.”
At age five, Ryan was fit with his first set of hearing aids, which he says “looked like shrimp hanging off my head. I did not want to wear them. They stood out. I got special treatment from my teacher, and I just wanted to be like all the other kids. I did not want to be known as ‘The Hearing Aid Kid.’”
Mary states, “His hearing loss did not seem to interfere with him being a typical growing boy. He did gymnastics, played soccer and basketball, and enjoyed karate. He also played the baritone in his school band. In middle school, Ryan had a 504 plan. This included him taking tests in a quiet setting and having directions read to him, if necessary.”
Ryan states that no one actually picked on him, and the other kids were more curious. “Some kids thought they were cool – like they made me some kind of robot – and in the early 1990s, robots were cool. As I got into high school, my vanity about them got the better of me. I absolutely would not wear them. You could not pay me to wear them!” As a result, Ryan admits he “wasn’t the best student in high school.” He graduated from Aquinas High School in 2005.
“Once I got to college, something changed. I had matured a bit and realized school was actually important. My desire to do better in college completely outweighed any vanity. In the morning, when I put my hearing aids in my ears, it was like I flipped a switch, like I was turning the machine on. I was able to hear my professors better and was more involved in classroom discussions. In my junior and senior years, I had a 3.7 GPA and made the Dean’s List. I was doing great.” Ryan graduated from MCC and then went to Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated in 2011 with a BS in Culinary Arts/Hospitality with a focus on Wellness and Sustainability.
Later, in 2020, he changed his career path to become a Hearing Instrument Specialist. “I always felt,” he said, “that I could do more to help people than to just cook them food.” And that was just exactly what he did.
Ryan now works for Moribito Hearing Aid Center on Canal Landing Boulevard in Greece. His mother, Mary, said that Ryan met Andrew Morabito (his current employer) at age 14. “Andrew was very helpful in fitting him with new aids and was very understanding of Ryan’s needs. He remained in contact with him over the next few years and ended up supporting him in becoming a hearing aid specialist and employing him when he completed his training and certification.”
Moribito was working for an ENT when he first met Ryan and tested his hearing. “Soon after, we fitted him with his first set of CIC’s (Completely-In-The-Canal) hearing aids. I would see him over the years for checkups,” Morabito said. “I then fit him with a new set of BTE’s (Behind-the-Ear) hearing aids at my own practice, Advanced Hearing Aid Centers, in 2013. I sold that practice and opened Morabito Hearing Aid Center.”
Morabito recalls, “One day, Ryan came in to see me for a hearing aid checkup, and at that appointment, he asked me about what it takes to become a Hearing Aid Specialist. We talked about the fact that I am a hearing aid dispenser trainer for New York State. I was ready to take on a new specialist and hired him.” Ryan underwent training and received his New York State Dispensing License in 2023.
Diminished hearing is far more than not hearing sounds and words. It is isolating and can put people at greater risk of developing mental health disorders. It can contribute to anxiety and depression. One study showed that older people with diminished hearing were 47% more likely to experience depression symptoms. Hearing is vital to one’s ability to communicate with others through language, build relationships, and enjoy life. It interferes with one’s capability to connect with others and socialize, causing social isolation and loneliness, and it can also cause disorientation and contribute to dementia. A study published in The Lancet found that hearing aids could lower the risk of dementia in half for those facing a greater threat of cognitive decline.
Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf since she was a toddler, once said, “Blindness separates us from things; deafness separates us from people.” Ryan Mort, therefore, helps people connect, improving their quality of life.
Mary sums it up by saying, “Ryan is a very special person. He has always been very empathetic and kind-hearted. He always enjoyed helping my special education students. He was put on this earth to help others.”
