Back in her college days, Gayle Goldberg Stout ’57 had a budding daily radio show on KTCU called “Something for the Girls: A Program about Style and Beauty.” She also enjoyed leading roles on the stage in the theater department. But it was a venture into deaf education that excited Stout most. Decades later, thousands of deaf children and their families are glad Stout didn’t wind up in Hollywood. Instead, she’s become an internationally known author and expert in teaching deaf children. At a time when many educators tried unsuccesfully to reach out to their deaf pupils and became frustrated, Stout and co-author Jill Windle believed children with hearing impairments could learn to listen if it was fun. So the two crafted The Developmental Approach to Successful Listening, a curriculum that teaches educators to break information into manageable chunks so that children can learn at their own pace. Stout, who teaches at The Houston School for Deaf Children, also encourages children and their families to take advantage of hearing aids and cochlear implants because her program and the technology together can help them function alongside their hearing peers. Her curriculum has sold more than 10,000 copies since the early days, when she mailed the program — by written request only — out of her garage. Now, Stout is an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston, in addition to her duties at HSDC. “My philosophy is to walk hand in hand with hearing impaired children and their parents,” she says. “And I have seen many of them come full circle at their weddings and graduations. It is very gratifying to see them succeed.”