16-year-old Vijeeth may have finished his GCSEs, but his exams don’t stop there. Aiming for his grade eight in guitar, he explains why his hearing loss doesn’t come between him and his passion for music.
16-year-old Vijeeth is moderately to severely deaf in both ears. He’s worn hearing aids since the family moved to the UK from India when he was six, but proudly confirms that the only challenge he’s faced in learning music is people’s perceptions of deafness.
"Guitar playing challenges people’s perceptions of deafness."
Choosing between his bright purple acoustic guitar and his black and white electric guitar is no easy task for Vijeeth, who loves playing them both. But his favourite song is easy to pin down, “Definitely ‘Take it Easy’ by The Eagles,” he nods.
Thinking back to when Vijeeth’s hearing loss was first confirmed, dad Vijay never imagined his son’s talents would lie in music. “Vijeeth found communicating difficult until he was about nine. Since then, we’ve had the right support, and his confidence in communicating has grown and grown. The main challenge – and privilege – for me as a parent of a deaf child is to provide the opportunities for Vijeeth to explore his talents. That’s how his guitar playing started, and since then there’s been no stopping him!