Curtis Pride was born December 17, 1968 in Washington, D.C.

When he was a tiny baby growing in his Mommy's tummy, she became very sick. Because she was sick, he was born with special ears that could not hear big sounds.

When Curtis went to school, sometimes he was sad because some of the kids were mean to him.

The kids did not like his special ears.

Please stop teasing me!

To help his ears hear big sounds, he started wearing these tiny, helpful friends called hearing aids.  He also learned a new trick, to look at peoples mouths to understand what people were saying.

Curtis was happy, he 

could finally hear big

sounds!

Curtis worked really hard at school.  

He began to play sports like baseball and soccer.  He ran fast and hit baseballs really far and guess what? 

Because he was so good at soccer and baseball, he was given a special ticket to go to a different school with other kids who had special ears like Curtis. 

This made Curtis REALLY happy!

Curtis kept practicing baseball everyday.  And those special ears helped him to focus all of his attention on the baseball field. He got so good that he got to play for a big team called the Expos.  He loved baseball so much that he played for a really long time, 23 years!  

                     Everyone loved him!

Even though Curtis had special ear helpers, sometimes they were quiet and didn't work so well.  To make sure he could always talk to his friends, he learned a new language.

Curtis learned how to talk with his hands.  He learned ASL (American Sign Language).  

So whether his ears were quiet or loud, he could talk to his friends all the time. 

After Curtis stopped playing baseball, he wanted to help kids with special ears just like his.  

He worked with very important people and with the biggest baseball team to teach that people with special ears are awesome and that they could achieve anything!

Curtis still loves baseball so he decided to teach other people how to play.  He became a coach and teaches people how to play baseball everyday.  

This makes Curtis VERY, VERY happy!

Curtis got married and has two children with special ears just like him.

Everyday he teaches his children that their special ears are really SUPER EARS!  They help them focus and achieve anything they can dream of.

Everyone with special ears can achieve their dreams, just like Curtis!

REFERENCES

“Curtis Pride - Head Coach - Baseball Coaches.” Gallaudet University,    

         gallaudetbison.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/curtis-pride/484.

“Pride Brings His Story to Cooperstown | Baseball Hall of Fame.” Baseballhall.org, 2025, 

         baseballhall.org/discover/pride-brings-his-story-to-cooperstown.

Laurila, David. “Curtis Pride – Society for American Baseball Research.” Society for American

         Baseball Research, sabr.org/bioproj/person/curtis-pride/.