The Fight to Find Her Voice

Meet Shelby! Shelby is an adult participant at our Denver Playhouse. She is a light in this world and we wanted to share her story! Read below shared from Shelby’s mom Sophia Martinez.

“Shelby is a non-verbal young lady who loves her friends and family. Since she was Kindergarten age and not speaking yet, we had to come up with a plan to help Shelby thrive and communicate. In elementary school, Denver Public Schools tried getting Shelby to use an Audio Augmented Device. All the devices and attempts never felt like a good fit for Shelby. Maybe it was the sensory issues, maybe it was her poor eyesight. Shelby gave it her all, but did not feel comfortable using a device. My husband Johnny and I started to notice Shelby responding to “Little Einsteins” videos featuring American Sign Language. This was engaging and interactive teaching that Shelby loved! Perfect! Johnny and I decided, “This is her strength! This is her voice!” Even though speech therapists told us, “Shelby will never talk”, we found her voice. Turns out, Shelby had and will always have plenty to say. Her first lessons in ASL were on our own personal time through our insurance. The Children’s Hospital of Denver has wonderful therapists and great one-on-one lessons. I highly recommend The Children’s Hospital for any state you may live in.

After the success of Shelby’s first classes, we tried to integrate Shelby’s strength with her Individual Education Plan in school. There were many difficult challenges Shelby endured in IEP additions. There were 17 DPS officials against this request, but that did not detour us. Turned out, that elementary school had not prepared and knew what to do with a unique a beautiful young lady like Shelby. We were told, since Shelby had excellent hearing she does not qualify for those unique speech therapy requests.

Shelby went through frustrations with communication being bullied, having a classmate spit in her face, and being locked up in a room. All of these difficult challenges and bumps in the road did not stop this Martinez train. In fact, they made us work overtime helping Shelby with her strengths. We had help through ARC getting a representative to fight the district. We went in front of the school board and keep the fight going. By time we got the district to see our point of view and give Shelby what she needs, it was months away from graduation. Shelby had some supports in her Transition Program that lasted about a year and a half. After all avenues were taken through her school career, we kept Shelby’s fire going with the help of Rocky Mountain Deaf School. They offer online classes that I can take in the middle of Shelby’s work, Zumba, and GiGi’s Playhouse events. We are in our second semester of learning ASL 1. We look forward to ASL 2 in the future as well.”

Shelby and her mom hope to share their knowledge of ASL by offering sign language classes at our playhouse!

“Maybe Shelby’s story will shine a light on others. Never give up!”

Shelby will also be featured in BEAM+STORIES Season 2!

BEAM+ is a Colorado-based organization dedicated to uplifting marginalized voices through storytelling, community-building, and creative solutions to community needs. With a focus on amplifying the voices of the disabled community, BEAM+ creates spaces where people with and without disabilities can engage in conversations that challenge stigma, shift perspectives, and spark meaningful change.

SEASON 2 IN PERSON SHOWCASE IS A FREE EVENT
SUNDAY, JUNE 22ND, 2025
THE PEOPLE’S BUILDING
COMMUNITY HOUR STARTS AT 3PM
FILMS SHOWCASE STARTS AT 4PM
FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT WWW.THEPEOPLESBUILDING.COM