university specifically for deaf and hard of hearing students. it's a unique setting, perfectly matched for her unique research. in her lab, pettito and her graduate students work with a special machine she helped design. it's called the fners. faster, quieter and more portable version of the machine. she needed a way to look at the infants. >> and this is quite an extraordinary, new microscope into the brain. it also allows the baby to engage in more naturalistic behaviors. they can look, they can turn their head. they can move their hands. and this was very exciting. >> remember that baby babbling in sign language? well, pettito found that babies exposed to sign language hit the same developmental milestones as babies exposed to speech. for example, the first word and