Facebook/Austin Steinbach
Since it was posted, the adorable image has exploded all over the Internet with media outlets across the country wanting to know more about this cuteness overload.
People were even more moved when Austin explained his daughter’s deafness, along with the challenges she’s overcome in her journey:
“She’s 75 percent deaf [in] both ears. Both her mom and I are hearing though,” he detailed on Reddit. “We just got the news from her audiologist five months ago and are learning ASL now and love it. She’s learning so much faster than us though! I love how much her learning sign has opened up her expressiveness and vocabulary. It’s so heartwarming to see her grow and become herself. We’ve started attending deaf groups and get-togethers once a month and it’s helping her confidence [in] signing tenfold.”
Both he and his wife are overwhelmed by the support they’ve received from others in the deaf community.
“The reaction and turnout from the deaf community is amazing,” he said. “I still haven’t been able to get through all the messages of support and kind words people have sent me. I could never have imagined how much her picture could have touched so many.”
According to Austin, the staff at his daughter’s preschool is incredibly supportive of her championing her superhero spirit at school, as this certainly isn’t the first time she’s showed up to class in costume.
From Wonder Woman to Batman and even Anna from Frozen, they’ve just about seen it all from little miss Kaylieann.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t WAIT to see what “Pootergirl” has in store for us for her future school pictures! Redditors are anxiously awaiting…