Matt Ricker

“‘Read it, read it!’ Those are the words that I called out to my mother at two and a half years old while in a hospital waiting room. Meanwhile, my mom had been telling me the story the whole time. She was reading; I just couldn’t hear. Soon before, I had been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. My recovery went well, but it left me with profound bilateral hearing loss, meaning deafness in both ears. After two years of life as a hearing person, the world was suddenly drowned out. Thankfully, I was able to get a cochlear implant in my left ear quickly after we realized I was deaf. Without that, I would not be where I am today. Following the implant, though, I had to learn to speak again. From the age of two and a half until fifth grade, I took speech therapy. During those years, I really learned to be my own biggest advocate. In school, I would speak out to make sure I was getting the services I needed. When making friends, I gained confidence as I addressed my peers’ questions about “that thing they saw in my ear”. I’m really grateful for my parents, sister, family, friends, doctors and teachers that have helped me over the years. Because of their help, I’ve never let being deaf stop me. In fact, I don’t even really consider it to be a disability. With hard work and optimism, I’ve been able to achieve all my goals. I graduated from Iona college in 2018 with a Bachelor’s in broadcast media and now am working on my Masters in Public Relations. Someday I hope to either become a primetime talk show host or a campaign spokesperson. I want to begin a foundation that helps deaf and hard of hearing children, too. I want to help them just like the adults in my life did when I was a kid.” - Matt Ricker, fourth generation New Rochellean, Principal Clerk, City School District of New Rochelle, part-time radio show host on WVOX - "The Chamber Show", Field Producer, “The Bronx Zoo,” Yankee fan show on YouTube/TikTok