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Special Olympics Turkey table tennis athlete Garip Olcas (right) went on to medal at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games after receiving a free Phonak hearing aid from Healthy Hearing. Photo provided by Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia. |
Special Olympics Turkey Athlete Receives Hearing Aid at World Games
Special Olympics Turkey athlete Garip Olcas, 12, participated in the table tennis competition at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. Garip grew up and lives in Yalova, a city about 60 km south of Istanbul. He lives with his family-his parents, one sister and three brothers-who all are very proud of him and his participation in the World Summer Games. Garip, a passionate table tennis player, said about the Games: "I have enjoyed it a lot" because I had a chance to play and practice table tennis a lot.ā€¯ It was his first time traveling abroad and ever boarding an airplane.
While in Shanghai, Garip attended the Healthy Athletes screenings in Shanghai. This was a very positive experience for him. Garip stated: "It was really fun to go through the screenings. I liked especially the gifts at the end of each screening." Several Turkish hearing clinicians were volunteering at Healthy Athletes as part of the Healthy Hearing leadership "Train-the-Trainer" session held during the World Games, with the goal of starting a Healthy Hearing program in Turkey. Garip was very happy to hear his native language at the screenings in China and to be able to communicate easily with the clinicians. During the Healthy Hearing screening, Turkish audiologist Aysen Erdil, identified a moderate to severe permanent hearing loss with Garip, as well as ear wax in both of his ear canals. He was fitted with Phonak hearing aids that day, donated by Hear The World Foundation Sponsored by the Phonak Hearing Aid Company! Before he left Healthy Hearing, it was recommended that Garip follow up with clearing the ear wax, and adjusting his hearing aids back home in Turkey.
When Garip returned to Turkey, the ear wax was removed in the ENT department of the American Hospital-Istanbul, where Erdil practices. Follow-up tests were conducted and Garip's Phonak hearing aids were adjusted as needed in cooperation with Duysel Ltd., the representative of Phonak in Turkey. Garip also received support and information about how to use his new hearing aids. Coach Fatih Olgun who is also Garip's PE teacher at the Milli Piyango Primary School for Children with Intellectual Disability observed, "Right after the hearing aids were fitted, Garip has come a long way in terms of hearing and speaking. Now he can hear me very easily. He started to imitate voices he could have never done before. He is interacting with his friends a lot easier now. One can easily understand the positive development in his speech. Due to all these changes in his life, he seems a lot more happy and social."
Garip exclaimed, "The World Games was great because I met so many different people from different places—and because I got my hearing aids, I liked it a lot!"
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