Providence guard is making his own noise.(Court Sense)

Dwight Brewington does not know how much of the applause he cannot hear. He knows what he does hear, not what he doesn't. But he can see the numbers on his stat line growing for the Providence Friars, the grades in his coursework climbing. "I have no more frustrations," he says.

Brewington is hearing-impaired. He explains his hearing loss is about 60 percent, corrected to a degree by the hearing aids he wears. A 6-5 shooting guard, Brewington is in his second season at Providence and leads the 4-2 Friars in scoring with 18.5 points per game. But Brewington admits he almost didn't make it to the start of his first season.

Because of his disability, he struggled to keep up in classes. He could hear some of what his instructors said and read their lips, but he'd lose track of the lecture if he looked down to take notes or the professor wasn't facing him. Brewington thought about leaving. "I wanted them to look bad, not me," he says. His mother begged him not to leave school, and he ultimately decided, "I didn't want people to think I'm a quitter."

The first step was convincing Providence he needed some help. The school arranged for him to have a note-taker and tutor. Anne Marie Clarkson accompanies Brewington to class and sits beside him, taking notes while Brewington follows the ...