Monte has big plans for the future despite disability

Last week, my girlfriend and I were chatting about this and that. She told me about Monte, the son of her neighbor.

It turns out that the boy is the grandson of Vazgen, a famous tinsmith in Martuni, Artsakh. When my girlfriend first mentioned Vazgen’s name, I thought for a minute and asked, ‘Is that the tinsmith who doesn’t eat dolma?’ She smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

Monte Petrosyan’s story got me interested and I visited Martuni the following Saturday. He’s the fourth of six children in the family. His mother, Nona, told me she remembers the day he was born like it was yesterday.

“The morning of December 16, 1993, was a normal day. Not much going on. We went to the hospital on foot. The Grad missiles started raining down on Martuni by the afternoon. All the patients were taken down to the basement. I had left by other three kids at home. I had no word from them. You can imagine how agitated I was. I began to sob,” says Nona.

This was the woman’s mental state when she gave birth to Monte. The baby was bluish and the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. The doctors were surprised that the boy was alive.

Nona says that Monte quickly came to and thought there was nothing to worry about. Who would have thought that their travails together during the pregnancy and afterwards would lead to such misery.

“Monte was a late talker. At two, he had just gotten around to uttering mommy and daddy. I started to be concerned but people were telling me that this was normal in some children. Over time, I noticed that whenever I spoke to him, Monte would look straight at me, more specifically, directly at my lips. I realized that Monte couldn’t hear me but was trying to read my lips,” says the mother.

During the post-war years, the resources of the large Petrosyan family were stretched mighty thin.

At the time, the parents of a child with a hearing disability living in the area told the Petrosyan’s that they were providing free hearing devices at the Arabkir Hospital in Yerevan.

They took Monte there for a medical exam. Doctors told the parents that the boy had level 2 deafness in one ear and level 3 in the other.

The doctors said that any operation or treatment regimen would be useless and that only a hearing device could help the boy develop his speech.

“It was because of his hearing problem that I was afraid to send Monte to school on time. He had already turned nine by the time he entered the first grade, getting individual classes. I was concerned that the boy would fall behind in his studies and that he would feel out of place and dejected as a result.”

Despite his mother’s concerns, Monte soon made friends at the school and would be seen playing with the other pupils during recess. The other kids knew Monte couldn’t hear well and they helped him as best they could.

Mrs. Nona told me that Monte never asks her for pocket money and that the boy earns a bit of cash from his internet and video clips.

As she was telling me this, the outside gate started to creak. “It’s Monte,” she said.

Sure enough, Monte entered the room where we were all seated. He looked at his mom, one of his sisters and then turned a puzzled gaze towards me. Monte silently sat down opposite me.

At first, Monte would only shake his shoulders or smile and say “What do I know”, when I began to ask questions. When I prepared my camera to take a photo or two, the boy turned his head away, embarrassed. He quickly regained his confidence and began to assume different poses for me to shoot.

Monte then began to talk about himself. He likes fight movies and tries to duplicate the fight moves portrayed.

To be honest, Monte can copy those professional moves pretty well. When I asked how he watches the films, Monte ran to the next room and brought back some DVD’s and a headphone.

“It’s my neighbor’s invention. She took an old telephone earpiece and hooked it up to the TV. At night, when we’re all sleeping, Monte plugs the device in and watches his movies,” Nona explained to me, all the while communicating with her son via their private language.

Monte also told me he likes computer games and that he dreams of one day creating his own. Right now, he satisfies his game craze by spending a few hours every at a local internet club testing his mettle.

Nona says that at one time Monte was saving up to buy a computer but changed his mind and bought birthday presents for his brother and younger sister.

Monte’s father called from outside and the boy went running to help.

Monte’s mother has never received state assistance for her son’s disability. She recounted that when she applied, after getting all the paperwork in order, to have Monte registered as disabled, they told her that the boy wasn’t eligible since he had a hearing device.

Nona didn’t dispute their decision nor seek clarification. She’s now decided to go back and reapply for the disability designation.

Monte now is in need of a new hearing aid. He’s outgrown the one he has. But the family just doesn’t have the money to purchase one in Yerevan. The boy has to make do without one.

“We’re a family of eight that has to make ends meet on my husband’s 96,000 AMD salary and the 15,000 stipend for the young child. Sometimes the men make a little on the side as tinsmiths,” says Nona.
When I asked Nona why they don’t send Monte to a school designed for pupils with special needs, the mother confesses that it would break their heart to part with the boy for long periods of time.

Nona says that Monte would find it difficult too acclimate to new surroundings, even it was the home of relatives. Today, the boy interacts with people much better than in the past and is comparatively less introverted.

Given the boy’s passion for the internet and the fact that he’s a quick learner, Nona says they would love to provide an education for Monte if only they had the chance.