Giving Back SUPERHEROES ASSEMBLE!

Incredible Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno inspires deaf and hard of hearing children at Desert Voices.

Photos by Marion Rhoades Photography

Thestudents at Desert Voices Oral Learning Center all have something in commonthey all have a superpower! Each child at Desert Voices is deaf or hard of hearing and uses a hearing device to gain better access to sound. Lou Ferrigno, actor, and fitness icon best known for portraying the Hulk in the original “Incredible Hulk” TV series, visited Desert Voices to share his story of growing up with hearing loss and how the power of determination can change everything.

Students and families alike were inspired by his story. Lou dealt with his share of adversity, losing 85% percent of his hearing as a child, and not having full access to communication while growing up. He shared that receiving cochlear implants and having better access to hearing has changed his life, and he taught the kids that embracing your fear makes you “a determined warrior.”

Feeling incredible, the students were ready for action! Together, Lou and the students participated in fun and games including Fitness for Heroes and a Save the Day Obstacle Course. Seeing someone who embodies strength and determination who also has hearing loss was a special moment for the kids and families, and a day that no one will forget. The event was made possible by Cochlear Americas.

Desert Voices is Arizona’s only nonprofit school dedicated to helping children who are deaf and hard of hearing learn to listen and speak. The children work hard every day to close the language gap and prepare to mainstream by the time they are kindergarten age. A day actionpacked with inspiration is just what they needed to show them that they truly are superheroes

Spotlight on students impacted by Desert Voices

Luis

Four-year-old Luis has been attending Desert Voices since he and his family started in the parent coaching program in 2020. Luis is bilingual, learning Spanish at home with his family and English through his daily instruction and interactions at school. Luis is profoundly deaf and uses bilateral cochlear implants to access auditory information to use listening and spoken language.

When Luis started in the program last year, his vocabulary inventory included 20 words expressively in English and 50 words expressively in Spanish. Today, Luis’s vocabulary inventory includes 120 words expressively in English and 110 words expressively in Spanish.

Kason

Three-year-old Kason is profoundly deaf in both ears and wears bilateral cochlear implants to hear and process sound. After early intervention services at Desert Voices, Kason started the preschool in August of 2022 using one-to-two- word utterances. Since he started the preschool program, he’s now spontaneously using four-to-five-word sentences!

Kason now labels his emotions, expresses new vocabulary every day, and even carries his new vocabulary over in multiple settings. These milestones may seem simple, but they are all important building blocks and something to be celebrated.