Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
–Psalm 61:1-2

Nine-year-old Alice Cogswell sat alone, watching her siblings play.

No one interacted with her. In the early 1800s, not many people knew how to listen to deaf people. But her new neighbo…