Eleven-year-old Neil Maes, who is deaf, will join the other 284 spellers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee duking it out to see who will reign as this year's champ. ( Linda Davidson / The Washington Post )As he walked out of his elementary school last week, fifth-grader Neil Maes heard the clapping from his fellow students lining both sides of the hallways. He heard them cheer and yell his name, and he heard them wish him luck as he headed off to compete in the National Spelling Bee, which starts Wednesday morning at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. “It was not something we were prepared for,” Christy Maes said Tuesday afternoon at the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Georgetown. “We wanted Neil to hear the birds, the water running, the winds in the trees,” his mother said, fighting back tears.

Source: thestar May 24, 2016 20:22 UTC