Each time a child walks on the No Limit stage, they are breaking boundaries,” says Eileen Lee Nelson, the national program director for No Limits Theater Group. “They are proving that deaf children can have dreams and succeed in a hearing world. They CAN dare to dream — and make those dreams a reality.”
Two Plainsboro youngsters — Corrine Preville, 10, a student at Millstone River, and Tanvi Shah, 5, a student at Town Center School — have had the chance to do just that through the No Limits program that began at Millstone River School in September and they performed “It Begins with a Dream,” an original piece for students at the school in October. “The performance is an educational outreach that tells the story of living with a hearing problem,” says Nelson. “We want to focus on what they can do, not what they can’t do.” Preville and Shah are in mainstream classes, reading and speaking for themselves in a cast that includes nine actors ranging in age from 6 to 21.
Others are invited to join in support of the program on Saturday, November 4, at a walkathon at Mercer County Park. “The walk is to raise awareness regarding oral deaf education as well as raise funds to help support the educational outreach program we just did at Plainsboro,” says Nelson.
Millstone principal Mary Ann Isaacs “gave us our start by offering her stage and her school for our first production,” says Nelson. “This is truly a pilot program and I was not sure how it was going to turn out. After the two performances, I am confident that this program will be successful wherever we choose to go.”
No Limits began 11 years ago by Michelle Christie-Adams in California, then a teacher of the deaf in a private school. Since her “hearing impaired” students were never selected to be in the school plays, she decided to write a play and create an environment where these children could go after school to work on speech and language and have fun in a theatrical environment. They have since produced more than 50 productions nationwide.
“The show presented at Millstone River was a new concept for us in the way that it is an outreach program, which explains hearing loss by children who have hearing loss,” says Nelson. “Our goal is to travel to different venues with this group of children to raise awareness about oral deaf education.” A performance will be presented at Town Center School in the near future.
Corrine is the daughter of Tina and Steven Preville, a principal in an elementary school in Edison. They moved to Plainsboro 18 years ago. Corrinne’s older sister, Hope, 13, is an eighth grade student at Community Middle School.
Corrine, who was born three months premature, also had in utero surgery for a pylothorax. “We were so happy she was alive,” says her mother. “I began to worry when she was still not talking at 18 months. She also would not let me read to her.”
Tina, who was working full time at the recreation department in Montgomery, quit her job the day she learned that Corrine was deaf. She has been working part-time with Plainsboro Recreation for the past eight years. She is also a referee for field hockey and lacrosse and teaches yoga at New York Sports Club.
Corrine has a cochlear implant in one ear. “She’s happy with it,” says her mother. “Although many believe that using sign language is a crutch, Corrinne became interested in learning it. She attended sign language camp this past summer. Through Heidi Wolfsinger, Corrine’s speech pathologist, she met Tanvi Shah, and convinced her to join No Limits.
“The mission of No Limits is to meet the auditory, speech and language needs of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and to enhance their confidence through the theatrical arts,” says Nelson.
No Limits is the only theater group in the country for oral deaf children. “To be oral simply means that the child utilizes speech and language to communicate instead of sign language. All of the children involved with No Limits either wear hearing aids or a cochlear implant,” says Nelson, a Manalapan resident who became involved in No Limits when her daughter Christen, now 14, was in her first show in 1997. “It changed the course of her life,” she says.
Walkathon, No Limits, Mercer County Park, West Picnic Area, West Windsor, 732-580-3888. www.nolimitsspeaksout.com. Interactive kidzone, music, games, and raffles. Marc John Jeffries, a young actor, is hosting the event to raise awareness and funds for the theater group. For children, families, teachers, and friends. Breakfast and lunch. $10, children; $20, adults. Saturday, November 4, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
