"I like to hear that," Troy dealership's youngest employee is a 17-year-old deaf mechanic

TROY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Noah Range is Troy's Suburban Toyota dealership's youngest mechanic. He's also deaf. Turns out, this healthy dose of incredible also comes with a side of humor.

"You are quite an inspiration to a lot of people," he's told. "I like to hear that," he responds.

Range has spent his whole life without the ability to hear. Despite the disability, it hasn't stopped him from excelling at his ambitions.

"I grew up deaf my whole life and I became used to it but I wanted to fit in and I would not let anything block me or prevent me from trying things," he said. "I just set my deafness aside and I kept going until I felt comfortable."

It wasn't all raw talent. He took a class at a technical center. There he met managers from the dealership at a recruitment event. Seeing his class intrigued them, but that wasn't enough to hire him. He needed to show his skill under the hood as well.

"When we went back for the skills demonstration we noticed Noah during the presentation and we saw how comfortable he was around the car," said Ryan Neilson of Suburban Toyota Troy, "and his skill level as he was moving around the vehicle and doing the operations that we needed for a new technician."

There have been subsequent benefits to Range's hire. His employment spurred on his partner to learn sign language. 

"When I found out I was going to work with Noah I went and took an eight week sign language class there was school in Birmingham to get my bearings on a little sign language," said Ashely Whitted.

The two now work in tandem, fixing cars and doing oil changes; proof that disabilities can't stop someone from excelling at their work.