By Julie Steele
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wutc/local-wutc-949681.mp3
Hearing Impairment Doesn't Silence Music For Chattanooga Man
Julie Steele
Chattanooga, TN – Sometimes we let disabilities keep us down, and other times we use them to lift us up.
Carl Brewer loves to play the harmonica. But because of a hearing impairment, he can't hear his own music unless he's wearing two of his six hearing aids. Carl isn't deaf but he has extreme hearing loss and uses six different hearing aids to hear music and voice.
Another interesting aspect of Carl's musical career is that he first began to play the harmonica as a teenager. He says he played just a bit and only for himself He put down his harmonica and didn't play for years, Then picked one up again when he was 64 years old and by then suffering from significant hearing loss. Carl is now 72.