Marlee has dance practice each Thursday after school. There are so many miracles wrapped up inside of our weekly routine that for many other children, is just a typical activity.  For Marlee, dancing to music she hears is anything but typical.  

Diagnosed with hearing loss at one month old and progressing to profoundly deaf by four months, Marlee’s family feared she would not be able to participate in many activities that hearing children enjoy.   Marlee began therapy at Memphis Oral School for the Deaf when she was four months old and the outlook for her future began to change. She received bilateral cochlear implants two days after her first birthday and continued therapy at MOSD until she began in their full time preschool program at just 22 months old.

“The hardest thing I have had to do is to send Marlee to school every day at such a young age, but that first year confirmed what I knew in my heart--that MOSD would change her life.”

In her very first year of school, Marlee experienced 14 months of language  growth in only 7 months.

“We witness miracles in her life every day because of the instruction Marlee has received at school. Our family is forever thankful for Memphis Oral School for the Deaf for the hope it gave us in the beginning, the communication skills and confidence it has given Marlee, and the lifelong friendships our family has made.”

Marlee loves to swim, dance and sing. She wants to be a teacher, baseball player, and a dancer when she grows up.