Rachael Coleman from Signing Time is an idol of mine. I look up to her because of how she handled her personal sorrow when she unexpectedly gave birth to special needs children. Her story is one of inspiration. She has truly turned lemons into lemonade!

Her first child, Leah, was deaf, and Rachael had been a singer and performer. (God has a unique sense of humor and funny way of getting us to follow our paths). It took a while, but at six months Rachael figured out Leah wasn’t hearing Rachael sing or any of her music.

She started learning - and teaching Leah, sign language.

Now, the story should really stop there, except God really did have a plan for Rachael and her family:

A few years later, Rachel had a second daughter. Lucy was born 8 weeks pre-mature, with spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Doctors worried that, due to her cerebral palsy, Lucy would never be able to communicate with her Deaf sister.

Rachael created her first DVD of signs - mostly for her own family and friends so they could communicate. And geuss what? Lucy started to sign!

...In spite of her cerebral palsy, Lucy currently has hundreds of signs and spoken words! After two long years of showing no interest in communication, she suddenly had a language explosion! At 2 years old, Lucy could fingerspell her own name and Leah's. Lucy signs and sings her ABC's. She can say and sign every color and can count to 10...and her speech and sign vocabulary expands each day. Lucy became the first of many Signing Time! miracles

Now, that could easily be the end of the story, but Rachael became and activist along with primo business woman and star and to children.

As part of her new foundation, Rachael and Signing Time groupies raise money to help make parks and playgrounds to make them disability accessible.

Lucy loves to swing. But when her family takes her to the park they notice that most parks are not very fun for her. There are no swings to support a child who cannot balance on their own, or who cannot hold on with both hands. Maneuvering a child in a wheelchair over railroad ties and through the playground’s wood chips or sand is very difficult – Lucy would never be able to approach the play area by herself. The Coleman’s quickly realized that these and other “barriers” were in the way of Lucy’s having fun at the park and playing with other children.

Dissolving “barriers” of all types and creating opportunities for all children to become friends is what the Signing Time! Foundation is all about.

Check out her non profit foundation site, explore her products on Signing Time.

But most importantly,help our parks be a safe playground welcoming to all: Make a donation.

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