Nine-year-old Isabella Caroll shoots off the pool’s edge, still full of energy after repeated laps in her level 3 swimming class. She’s fast, and her form is getting better.
The shrieks and splashes of the Clairemont public pool filter through the waterproof cochlear implant attached to the back of her neck.
It’s impossible to know exactly what Bella hears. She was born without certain hair cells in her ears that are needed to hear. Research suggests what sounds the implant does pick up are warped, tiny and a bit robotic. But she pops up immediately when her swimming coach calls out, “Bella!”
She looks at her coach and then up to her interpreter standing on the pool’s edge, Roy Hensley, who was contracted by the city. He communicates what the coach is saying in American Sign Language.
“You guys need to be curling your knees inwards, toes pointed outwards!” Bella's coach said.
Hensley points back to her coach, and Bella’s head whips around to watch him demonstrating the proper kick technique with his arms.
Her grandmother, Janet Brown, enrolled her in swim lessons before. But without an interpreter, much of the technique and instructional nuance was lost.
“A few years ago, we did try to give Bella swim lessons through a regular program that ... all the hearing world uses,” Brown said, “and she really could not catch on.”
It was important to Brown that Bella, who surfs, become a strong swimmer for her safety.
“She feels much more confident in the water, and now she's not afraid to go into the ocean by herself,” Brown said.
After the interpreted swim lessons began, she watched Bella go from holding on to the pool's edge to jumping right in willingly. That confidence, she said, started expanding to other sports — skateboarding, rollerblading — and then to other parts of life.
Brown said Bella started approaching other kids, and began making friends everywhere she went — at the grocery store and on the playground. Children started to include her more.
The American with Disabilities Act requires the city to offer interpreter services for any of its programs, but you have to know they exist. Brown wasn’t aware until the mother of Bella’s friend — who is also deaf — told her they could request it.
Brown said she’s grateful for the service, and she hopes the city will expand the sports it offers. Bella practices Taekwondo, which is not offered by the city. She also plays volleyball.
“Because for the deaf kids, to be able to be on a team, interact with the hearing children — I think it's really important for their self confidence that they can see they can be on a team and (be) as good as the other teammates,” Brown said.
To Hensley, it’s about basic equity.
“It’s important because it’s part of life,” Hensley said. “It’s something a kid wants to do, so it should be accessible for them.”
For Bella, why it matters that she can access the swim lessons is even more straightforward.
“Because I need to learn and exercise my legs and become smart,” Bella signed. “I like swimming. I just love it. I love it.”
