Liam Coleman

Leah was born profoundly deaf. No infant hearing screenings were performed at the hospital during December of 1996, so Leah's deafness was not discovered until the age of 14 months. At first, the family was devastated, but they soon decided to view the situation from Leah's perspective: nothing had changed; nothing was wrong. Leah's parents began learning American Sign Language to provide an environment of visual communication. Leah excelled and was soon surpassing most hearing peers in the ability to communicate. Leah's mother, Rachel Coleman, observed that children who knew even a small number of signs would attempt to interact with Leah much more than those who knew none. This became the inspiration for Signing Time! (2002). Leah, along with Rachel and Leah's younger cousin Alex Brown became the stars of a new show to help introduce children everywhere to American Sign Language. Leah now attends college in Rochester, New York.