A few months ago a mother contacted I DANCE BECAUSE asking if there was any way we
could help her with her daughter. Her daughter who is deaf, loves to dance. She recalls the devastating feeling of hopelessness she felt that October 2006 when she heard the words, "Your daughter is profoundly deaf". Her heart sank, tears fell and an overwhelming feeling of shock took over. Although the audiologist had many well meaning things to say, all this mother could think was, "What is my daughter's life going to be like? What is our family's life going to be life?"
This mother did not let her daughter's diagnosis limit her. As her daughter grew, she noticed how much her little girl loved to dance. She told her daughter "hearing will not stop you from doing what you are called to do." Her little girl learned sign language and learned to use a computer and television to look at different styles of dancing. As she felt the vibration of the music, she started to move. Every morning she would run to the radio speaker to touch to see if she could feel a vibration. When she didn't feel anything, she would then run to her mom so she would turn the radio on.
Today this little dancing girl is a bright 13 year old, practicing her dances and putting her own little twist on them. In November at our annual dance-a-thon, we awarded Zi'Nayiah a scholarship to study dance at Sharron Miller Academy for the Performing Arts (SMAPA). We are so proud of Zi'Nayiah and look forward to seeing her dance for many more years to come.
Her message to all of us - don't ever let anything stop you from doing what you have been called to do. Everything is possible! Congratulations Zi'Nayiah.