Our Stories
Our Stories
Leighton
Like most caregivers who discover their child was born with a hearing loss, Nina and Spencer worried at first how their infant daughter would communicate and if she would struggle academically and socially. Thanks to her cochlear implants and a listening and spoken language (LSL) education at Clarke Florida, four-year-old Leighton is an expressive child with a big personality and a budding passion for sports.
John
John was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at birth during his newborn hearing screening. In 2017, John’s parents enrolled him in Clarke Birth to Age Three Program. “From the time John was 15 months old, the Clarke team supported, taught, encouraged, believed in and loved John,”
Dexter
Dexter has a single-sided profound hearing loss and wears a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) to help access sound. He started attending Clarke New York’s Preschool Program when he was three and graduated from Clarke in 2018. “Dexter is proof positive that Clarke invariably accomplishes its mission… he has excelled
Madeline
Madeline’s diagnosis of moderately severe to profound hearing loss in both ears at the age of 18 months changed her family forever. It instilled a commitment to see “the beauty in the journey” as her siblings and parents became active
Jaden
Jaden is six years old and a fun and outgoing first grade student who’s bound to always leave you with a smile. He has a sensorineural hearing loss and learned to listen and talk at Clarke Florida. He enjoys learning about the solar system and science experiments — as
Avani
Avani will attend University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Honors College this fall, a decade and a half after she attended Early Intervention and Preschool Programs at Clarke Florida where she learned to listen and talk. Avani has a bilateral hearing loss
Joe
Joe is a fifth-grader in Clarke’s K-8 Program. He has profound bilateral hearing loss and uses bilateral cochlear implants to access sound. “Joe has been working hard to improve his listening and spoken language since joining the program in the
Jad
Jad attends the University of South Florida where he studies biomedical sciences. An alum of Clarke Florida, Jad also works at Target as a cashier and donated his first paycheck to Clarke. “I donated my paycheck because I really wanted
Alex
Alex, who is profoundly deaf in both ears and wears digital hearing aids, attended Clarke’s preschool and elementary school programs in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Clarke has been a big influence in shaping my deaf
