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Low-Income Children Get Free Hearing Screenings
Center for Early Intervention on Deafness Celebrates International Deaf Awareness Week
September 24-30, 2009 - It takes a lot more than a dream to change the world for young children who are deaf and hard of hearing and in need of help. It takes a strong belief in opening the doors of curiosity in each child, and helping them take the next steps. Jill Ellis had such a belief, nearly 30 years ago.
"In 1980, I was a co-author to a federal grant to the Handicapped Children's Early Education Programs.," says Ellis, CEID's Executive Director. "Our goal was to create a family-focused, early intervention program for young children and their families, now known as the Center for Early Intervention on Deafness (CEID). In order to have grown like we have, each of us here at CEID has to believe deeply in our hearts, that there is no pre-determined limit to the minds of young children, whether or not they are hard of hearing!"
To help determine if a child needs additional help, during 'Deaf Awareness Week', CEID will be offering free hearing screenings for nearly 200 low-income children. Working with the Berkeley-AlbanyHead Start Program for three years, each fall hundreds of children work with CEID's team of specialists.
"Deafness has often been referred to as the 'invisible handicap,'" says Ellis. Young children are eager to learn and socialize with friends, but when they are not hearing normally, their interactions and abilities can be compromised. Even children with a slight hearing loss or hearing loss on one side, often fail a grade in elementary school. By identifying a loss early, and providing teachers and parents information and support, we can reverse those delays and frustrations."
What began as a 3-year federally funded program that was housed in the basement of a church in San Francisco, offering nursery school classes and home visits, has grown to a new location in Berkeley and their staff has tripled in the last 5 years.
In 1983 CEID moved to Berkeley and established the first early educational program for deaf and hard-of-hearing babies and young children in the East Bay, and in 2004, began a Program that combines typically developing children in an 'inclusive center with deaf children and children with special needs.
"The chance to see children working as a community, regardless of where their strengths and limits are, is truly special. We opened the Sunshine Pre-School and Childcare supported by the Home of Hope, Inc. (HOH), "continues Ellis. "To watch a room full of children interact with curiosity and trust, and see the joy and accomplishments of each child, is a bit of magic.
"The children develop intimate and caring relationships early on and introduce each other to different learning styles and strengths. When I learned of two locations in India for children who are deaf where HOH is helping, also, it became our goal to share what we have learned, and extend our knowledge and skills!
"Less than 18 months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Dr. Nilima Sabharwal. It is amazing how, in such a short time, they were able to help support Sunshine. Here at CEID, we know too well that the survival of non-profit organizations, and the ability to continue pushing one's goals to a higher point is dependent upon people like her. To help young children who are deaf and hard of hearing fully develop their listening, speech, communication, physical and social skills, it is critical to diagnose the cause and level of their hearing loss within the first three months of life and provide hearing aids and early intervention by six months of age.
"Babies need to feel connected. Children need to have reasons to laugh. Did you know that little ones laugh 400 times a day? This is an underestimated psychological tool in the classroom. Being playful and feeling accepted is the key factor in early development. I believe that it was Plato who said, 'you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation'!
"In order to take this statement, and prove it as real, we built state of the art programs, specially designed facility to offer a unique learning experience for children ages 18 months - 5 years old. There are classes divided into three groups: Toddler -for children ages 18 months to 3 years, Pre-School - from 3 to 5 years and the Sunshine Pre-School and Childcare.
"Sunshine is our all-day inclusive pre-school and childcare that welcomes children ages 2-5 who are deaf and hard of hearing, to learn alongside their hearing peers," says Ellis. "The children develop intimate and caring relationships early on and expose each other to different learning styles and strengths. When I learned of two locations in India for children who are deaf, where HOH is helping, it became our goal to share what we have learned, and extend our success.
"In addition, our expertly trained teachers and therapists make home visits to babies (and their families) who have just been identified or who have other additional medical conditions to provide support, introduce ways to help get their child's attention and begin communicating. We also help parents navigate the education and health systems to secure hearing aids and cochlear implants for their children."
Ellis was asked how these ideas will be taken by CEID to the locations HOH is working with in India.
"At the Pingalawara Trust in Amritser, is the Adarsh School. We want to go there and share with them approaches to helping these children get a head start to their lives," says Ellis. "Most importantly, we want to know what they offer their children. I know that we can both learn from each other."
The Center for Early Intervention on Deafness is a non-profit charitable organization, dedicated to identifying hearing loss in babies within the first few weeks of life and enrolling the child in early intervention prior to 6 months of age, providing exemplary services to optimize the child's communication, social and academic potentials.
CEID is committed to providing comprehensive early intervention services and supports to babies and young children who are deaf and hard of hearing, and their families, who reside anywhere in the Bay Area.
