Justin Osmond Conquers Hearing Loss

I read about Justin Osmond in a recent Mormon Times article.  It was so good, I wanted to tell you his story.  Justin was born with only 10% of the hearing most of us have.  He could hear so little that he struggled to learn to talk.  What was even harder is that his dad was a famous singer and musician—Merrill Osmond.  Justin could barely hear his Dad sing!  Justin’s siblings and cousins all were musicians, and he wanted to carry on the family tradition.

Justin spent hours with his mom learning how to talk.  He said, “My mother would wake me up every morning at 6 a.m. and work with me for countless hours on my speech therapy," Osmond said. “After many years of intense speech, listening and comprehension therapy I am able to speak with passion and hear with conviction.”

He also learned to play the violin.  He explained, “With the violin, I learned to use it as a bone conductor and instead of listening with my ears, I would hear the music through the vibrations of the violin as it creates a musical reaction through my cheek bone and all the way to my brain where it interprets the sounds of music. Where an ordinary man finds an excuse, a courageous man finds a way.”

Justin grew up wanting to help other hearing impaired children.  He works with a group that gives away free hearing aids to children.  He said, “A world void of sound can be quite lonely and difficult.  But when you fit a child who hears their mom’s voice for their very first time, it’s like a light switch comes on. I usually play my violin to help others see that they may have a hearing loss, but dreams can become reality with a lot of hard work, patience, perseverance and faith.”  Recently he earned an MBA, and was honored to speak at the Graduation ceremony.  

Because Justin is hearing impaired, he’s uniquely suited to help other children with the same disabilities.  He’s worked hard to minimize the problems he faces and lead a normal, productive life by learning how to talk.  And he hasn’t let this stop him from pursuing his dream of playing musical instruments with his family.

 From:  Sheahan, Nicole. "Justin Osmond finds a way despite his hearing loss." Mormon Times 5 March 2011: 10.