By Lee Hurley
This story has happy endings and several heroes. But it’s hard to tell that to a distressed mother who can’t quite figure out what is wrong with her daughter.
Leigh and Joe Leak had their first child, Caroline, a beautiful baby girl, in 1996.
“Ten fingers, ten toes, looked perfect in every way,” Leigh Leak said. “She walked early and was such a curious child.”
At about 16 months, though, Leigh began to sense that something was wrong despite being told that Caroline was perfectly fine. There was no history of hearing loss or deafness on either side of their families yet after having extensive hearing tests, Caroline was diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss.
“In 1997, there was no Google and no laptop to hop on and research,” Leak reflects. “We were stunned, shocked and even a little in denial.”
Those who know the Leaks could tell you what happened next. They got busy figuring out what to do for their daughter.
But first they had a major decision to make about Caroline’s diagnosis. That is, do they commit to the path of spoken language, or do they commit to sign language? The two options could not be more different.
“We chose spoken language for her,” Leak said, “and making that decision means basically hearing aids or a cochlear implant followed by intensive therapy with an auditory-verbal therapist.”
A cochlear implant, which Caroline had, is a surgically implanted device that bypasses damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve. It’s like learning a new way to hear,” Leak said.
Then There Was Children’s
Thankfully for the Leaks, Children’s of Alabama offers world-class care for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
“I would be sitting in the waiting room at Children’s for different appointments and there would be families there from Mobile, Huntsville, and Montgomery,” Leak said. “It made me realize how incredibly fortunate and blessed we are to be in Birmingham.”
Dr. Audie Woolley, medical director and founder of the Cochlear Implant Program at Children’s, not to mention a mean banjo player, and auditory-verbal therapist Nancy Gregg are considered superheroes.
Nearly three decades ago, Woolley, with Gregg’s help, began performing cochlear implants at Children’s. That first year Woolley did just a handful, but the number tripled and doubled again. Meanwhile, Gregg oversaw the critical auditory and verbal therapy needed to teach these children how to hear and speak
The Rise of WISE
Woolley and Gregg make up the spirit and the backbone of WISE, the shorthand name for the Woolley Institute for Spoken-Language Education. Quite simply, WISE is a nonprofit that helps affected children learn to listen and speak.
Homewood’s Keith and Jennifer Andress have two boys with cochlear implants, Will, 20, and John, 21. Will’s hearing loss was more profound, and he was enrolled in the 2009 inaugural class of what would become WISE. The classes were at Canterbury Methodist Church.
When Will began the program, Jennifer Andress said, “I liken it to putting kindling wood down and lighting a match. His language took off and before first grade he was caught up with his peers.”
The mission of WISE is to “empower families with the skills, strategies and resources so that every child with hearing differences or developmental delays can learn to listen, speak, read and integrate fully into the community,” according to its website.
It operates from a building in Meadowbrook as well as satellite offices in Huntsville, Mobile, Decatur and Boaz. It recently added a mobile unit that travels statewide providing hearing screening, audiological services, speech therapy and family education. Gregg is executive director of WISE.
“She’s an amazing person,” Leak said, “a highly trained speech therapist who is also running a nonprofit, wearing a million hats, writing grants and so much more.”
The scope of WISE today is almost intimidating. The Early Intervention Program serves approximately 225 children per month all over the state, while preschool programs in Birmingham and Huntsville serve 47 children. The outreach and support program provides educational audiology and language therapy for 37 children in public schools.
Happy Endings
Caroline Leak graduated from Washington and Lee then Cumberland Law School and just started as a first-year associate at Lightfoot, Franklin and White in Birmingham.
Will and John Andress are both deans’ list students at Auburn. Will is getting an undergraduate and master’s degree in accounting while John plans to go to law school.
Both Jennifer Andress and Leigh Leak serve on the WISE board along with other community leaders who lend their passion to the nonprofit.
“Seeing the growth that we’ve been able to achieve in the last five years has been really encouraging. We have had so much help from generous individuals, organizations and political leaders,” Leak said. “Running a program of this size and scope is neither easy nor cheap. But it changes lives.”
