Everyone's talking about Dr. McKirdy!

"She is so unique! I have never met a person who is more passionate about giving Deaf babies a fair chance to live life to the fullest. Laura has helped so many families that it is impossible to count!"

"Laura is a visionary who has devoted her life to supporting others. She is the epitome of personal and professional grace, humility, selflessness and excellence."

"Laura's dedication to individual children's needs has been an inspiration to me."

"Laura is truly one of the most remarkable, caring, hard-working people I know. She has paved the way in deaf education and has changed the lives of babies, students and teachers and colleagues."

We'd love for you to share your thoughts about our "HEAR-o" here.

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"I am so grateful that generous individuals have continued to give their time and resources to keep our program for babies with hearing loss and their families alive and thriving for the past 30 years. Their ongoing efforts allow us to offer the thoughtful, comprehensive early intervention services that really make a difference, impacting the entire future life trajectory of the children we serve. 

I’m proud of the babies who have gone on to have successful independent lives as adults, raising families of their own, and on occasion having their little ones participate in our program. I love hearing from them or their parents!

I’m proud of the staff who go the extra mile on behalf of “their” babies and families. Throughout the years, there have always been special “someones” who share the vision and the mission and maintain the highest standards of care.  

I am proud that our team is able to provide unbiased information about communication options to families allowing our program to offer high quality services using either total communication or listening and spoken language depending on the child’s needs and family preference.

While the benefits of early intervention for babies with hearing loss are readily apparent in the research and reflected in the individual children’s capacity to communicate and excel academically, public funding has not followed which is why we continue to prioritize fundraising to ensure the sustainability of our program"

- Dr. Laura S. McKirdy, 2026 "HEAR-o" of the Year