Diane and Zoe’s Story

When a friend suggested that I take Zoe, age 20 months, to the Center for Hearing and Communication after suspecting that this adorable baby I had adopted in China was deaf, I never looked back. With the guidance of CHC and its comprehensive services, Zoe was quickly on her way to learning how to listen and speak.

She received group and individual therapy, and I received the same, but with other parents of children with hearing loss. The support provided by CHC allowed Zoe and I to weather the difficult times when progress was so slow and I would wonder if Zoe would ever make it in the mainstream. When it became apparent that Zoe, after getting a cochlear implant was not progressing as expected, a new type of therapy was initiated and the speech began to come.

I enrolled Zoe in a mainstream preschool after receiving much guidance from CHC counselors about the school system and the steps we needed to take to make sure Zoe’s needs would be met. Just three years later Zoe entered a top New York City private school where she has flourished ever since! She plays the piano, has a diverse group of friends, travels to foreign countries, excels on her school’s sports teams, takes AP classes and is on the honor role in high school every semester.

Rarely a day goes by that I don’t look at Zoe and something she has accomplished and honestly wonder how it would have happened had I not found CHC when I did. The 10 years that she received therapy there and I received the invaluable advice and support of the fabulous staff has allowed me to encourage Zoe in all of her endeavors. Both she and I truly know that she can be whatever she wants to be and do whatever she wants to do because of the strong foundation given to her by the Center for Hearing and Communication.