BUFFALO TWP — The world is now a different place for Eric Macurdy.

The 15-year-old can hear the clanging of pots when his mother is in the kitchen, the hum of an air conditioner and the voice on the other end of a telephone.

Thanks to small electronic devices called cochlear implants in both of his ears, the Buffalo teenager can listen to all the sounds around him.

“I can hear a lot of softer sounds,” Eric said.

The surgical implants also enable the deaf student to attend his first public school this year.

Eric is a freshman at Freeport High School, where he is becoming accustomed to large classes and piles of homework. “It's not bad,” he said.

When Eric attended the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh, classes were no bigger than five students.

Now, he is in classes with 30 students.

Dana Mantini, Eric's learning support teacher, said he had been accustomed to extensive one-on-one work in the classroom — something a public school isn't designed to provide.

“Here, it's kind of sink or swim,” Mantini said.

However, Eric's teachers have made accommodations for him when possible.

After some initial struggles in English, he was given different definitions for words. Mantini said Eric needs explanations for some words. “He never learned the vocabulary,” she said.

Additional support staff work with Eric in his classes.

Although high school life was daunting at first, Eric is adjusting.

“He does fine,” Mantini said.

It also doesn't hurt that Eric's a fast learner.

“He's extremely bright,” Mantini said.

She described Eric as being conscientious and caring of others.

“He's such a fantastic kid,” Mantini said. “I love working with him.”

Eric's mother, Kathleen Macurdy, had to adjust, too, as her son entered public school.

“I was nervous,” she said. “Everybody kept telling me he'll be fine.”

Macurdy praised the high school for helping Eric make the transition.

“Freeport really has been doing everything they can,” she said.

DePaul also helped during the last school year when Eric spent Fridays at the Freeport Junior High School to become acclimated to his future classmates.

“Eric never had trouble making friends,” his mother said.

Along with his lessons, Eric is learning how to control the volume of his own voice. “Sometimes I talk loud, sometimes too low,” he said.Eric also is getting used to hearing other people.High-pitched voices are difficult to understand; deep voices using clear pronunciation are easier to discern.The implants enable Eric to do something he never was able to do using standard hearing aids: talk on the telephone.Kathleen Macurdy and her husband Terry initially didn't know their son was deaf. Eric was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when he was 13 months old.Kathleen Macurdy said a Pittsburgh hospital never told her that Eric failed a hearing test.Eventually, the hospital contacted the Macurdys about bringing Eric in for an examination, leading to the revelation.His parents decided Eric shouldn't learn sign language, so they sent him to DePaul.“They taught him to speak,” his mother said.While DePaul did not teach lip reading, Eric learned how to do it by watching television.Kathleen Macurdy said she and her husband waited as long as they could to get Eric implants because they wanted the most technologically advanced devices possible.“We didn't get him implants right away,” she said. “Then he started to lose more hearing.”In 2008, Eric received his first implant. During a surgical procedure, one part of the device was inserted under his skin.To bypass damaged portions of the ear, the implant goes into the cochlea, a chamber of the inner ear.The first implant was an 80 percent improvement over Eric's hearing aids. Unlike hearing aids which just amplify sounds, a cochlear implant directly stimulates the auditory nerve.The implant contains a magnet that attracts the external portion of the device, which Eric wears around his outer ear. A second device was implanted in Eric's other ear the following year.Eric didn't have any post-surgery complications either time. “It was sore for two weeks. That's all,” he said.Five days after the second surgery, Eric was back to school.The implants were activated a month after insertion to ensure there were no problems.Eric quickly started detecting noises he never heard before.He and his mother were in a store when the air conditioning unit kicked on.“He said, ‘Mom, what's that sound?' ” Kathleen Macurdy said.The devices are water resistant, but not waterproof. Eric takes off the external portions when showering and swimming.Since receiving the implants, he has met Jim Patrick, who was a member of the Australian team that invented the first cochlear implant.Patrick is working on creating a waterproof version of the device.Since Eric can't hear without the external parts, he sets his alarm clock to vibrate under his pillow.His father works at Allegheny Ludlum, but the family maintains a farm.“I pretty much do all the work,” Eric said.Along with being a hard worker, he isn't shy about voicing his opinion. Whether it's chiding his father for dozing off while they're hunting or expressing concern about his teachers' health, Eric speaks his mind.“He lectured me about wearing high heels,” Mantini said, explaining Eric heard television show host Dr. Oz say that high heels are bad for the back.“It was so sweet he was concerned about me,” Mantini said.Eric, who lives with his parents and sister Emily, 18, is considering taking up a trade, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning installation and maintenance, after high school.“He can do anything mechanical,” Kathleen Macurdy said. “It's like the wheels never stop turning.”In one way, he's like most teenagers. “I can't wait to drive,” Eric said.