Central Florida Speech and Hearing Center

To help children and adults learn to communicate better and help people hear better is what we aim to accomplish. Our ultimate goal is to be able to dismiss a patient from therapy because he/she has met all of their goals and they can now communicate and function in their community. Our ultimate goal with a hearing impaired person is to be able to fit them with hearing aids and any other technology device they might need such as blue tooth, so they can hear all the sounds around them and be able to communicate in their community. A child has to first hear a word before he can speak it, speak a word before he can read it and read a word before he can write it. We begin where the child is and take them through the hierarchy of how to communicate. This is a concise definition of what we do at the Center. Children with communication disorders frequently do not perform at grade level. In Polk County 43% of students entering kindergartens in 2012 scored “not demonstrating” or “emerging skills” on the ECHOS language screening (Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener FLKRS, District Report of School Results Fall 2012). Two out of 10 children will have some type of speech or hearing disorder. The consequences of untreated speech-language problems are significant and lead to behavioral challenges, mental health problems, reading difficulties. [Boudreau DM, Hedberg NL, 1999]. In 2017-18, the Center’s speech-language pathologists provided therapy, on average, to over 240 children each week to improve their communication skills. We see children of all ages with such disorders as autism, articulation, problems understanding and using language, and children with swallowing and eating disorders. Each patient is seen individually. Goals are set for each session. Parents observe therapy so that they can carryover the skills at home.  One of our adult services is working with stroke survivors and their families. Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death in America and a leading cause of adult disability. After a stroke, many people experience speech and/or language difficulties and we see them for therapy. In addition, we offer a monthly Stroke Support Group led by our speech-language pathology staff. The support group provides education, advice, self-help skills, and the opportunity to meet and share experiences with family members, caregivers and other resources.Research demonstrates that the consequences of untreated hearing loss has considerable negative social, psychological, cognitive and health effects that go beyond hearing alone. Our treatments can help foster economic development and growth for Central Florida hearing impaired citizens because research proves when hearing impairment is dealt with earning power can be increased. Just as importantly, treatment of hearing loss has shown to reduce discrimination toward the person with a hearing loss.

The Center provides the services that care for and maintain speech and hearing health. Many of the speech and hearing disabled clients served by the Center come from disadvantaged homes, non-English speaking homes, one parent homes, and families in need of help with parenting, disciplining and communicating with each other. We actively partner with other organizations in Central Florida whenever possible to include the United Way of Central Florida, Volunteers In Service to The Elderly (VISTE) by providing speech and hearing solutions for their clients, First Aviation Sertoma (providing Christmas food and gifts during the holidays), Hearing Loss Association of America (partnering with our Hear Mobile program to provide on-site hearing screenings across our service area and providing no/low cost hearing aids), seek out community volunteers and interns from local high schools, colleges and universities to help increase awareness in the community to the needs of speech and hearing impaired youth. Through our broad approach and community partnerships we are able to share the programs and services the Center provides so that families learn together. We also encourage children and families/caregivers to help others in need and help them understand the importance of giving back. The Center has also seen a re-energizing of the Advisory Board which meets semi-annually and provides a source of committed volunteers for fundraising and charitable activities.  Other activities include: PSA’s on local TV and radio stations, special fundraising events, support from our engaged board of directors, chamber and civic group presentations, providing services to industries through OSHA testing, HearMobile program, stroke support group meetings, letter campaign, health fairs, FTRI, and Loop Florida.

Our internal strength starts with our 30 professional staff members including 3 Doctors of Audiology and an Audiology Assistant and Audiology Doctoral Extern, 7 state licensed Speech-Language Pathologists with master’s degrees, bilingual interpreters, certified technicians with our mobile testing units and a senior management team that provides leadership and commitment to excellence as we expand our reach. We continually strive to improve our service delivery through innovation and professional development and embrace the highest standards of ethics, honesty and integrity. In addition we have an excellent facility with up-to-date technology and large therapy rooms so that all patients and staff have a comfortable working environment. Our external strengths include partnerships with the Universities where we provide internships for their audiology students. We are partners with Polk County School District Medical Academies Board. This partnership provides the Center an opportunity to invest in the development of our future workforce. We also partner with Career Source Polk to train and develop our community’s workforce. Additionally, we partner with Polk County Indigent Care to provide low cost hearing evaluations and hearing aids purchased by the county for patients that are 200% or below the poverty level.  We have a diverse Board of Directors, 23 community leaders dedicated to supporting our Mission throughout Central Florida. We work closely with the Hearing Loss Association of America and its Florida chapters to promote awareness and education for the need to improve equal access and improved communication for everyone. We are active in developing and expanding our social network presence and providing education and information materials through these points of contact. We are 1 of 25 distributors in the State of Florida providing free phones to those with hearing loss. We provide both in-house and outbound solutions for those in need through partnership with the Florida Telecommunication Relay Services, Inc. (FTRI). Our onsite ShopHear store stocks the latest in assistive listening and speech devices. The Center provides life changing experiences enhancing knowledge and understanding of people with speech and hearing disabilities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:Created an Awareness Campaign helping community partners learn more about the impacts of untreated hearing loss and the many services the Center provides.Reorganized staff, placing employees in the right place/positions. The change increased productivity without increasing the number of employees. Held two major fund raising events with over 1,000 guests attending, raising over $310,000. Added 4 new Board of Director members.Contract approved with Polk County Indigent Care for Audiology servicesPartnership formed with Internist and ENT physicians to reach more patients.  All our stakeholder groups are very focused on the impact we have on the communities that make up Central Florida. Hundreds of volunteers help spread the word about our programs and services and the importance of addressing speech and hearing health. That commitment has propelled our organization, helping us expand our reach by serving more patients regardless of their ability to pay. While we have made great strides we:Continue to pursue contracts with commercial insurance companies in order to increase revenue.Plans are underway to staff and begin online courses for preschool educators in order to fulfill new state guidelines for preschool funding.Increase revenue by $10,000 per month to become more financially stable.Expand our Hear Mobile Industry Services. A lesson learned is that regardless of our Mission and the services we provide for the betterment of individuals, we must be able to generate revenue to support our Mission. Although we continue to enlist the generosity of our community, we seek to identify and implement programs that positively generate income for long term legacy. We are critical to providing needed services to Central Florida communities. An overwhelming percentage of our patients are served under Medicaid guidelines. Without the service we deliver, most would not have a place of treatment for their speech and hearing health needs. Our greatest obstacle is AWARENESS about the consequences of untreated hearing loss. Research, much from John Hopkins, established risks related to untreated hearing loss such as dementia, diabetes, falls, negative social, psychological, cognitive and health effects of untreated hearing loss. Those who have difficulty hearing experience distorted and incomplete communication that seriously impacts their professional and personal lives. Hearing loss is not just an ailment of old age. It can strike at any time and any age, even childhood. This past year we fit a 4 month old baby with hearing aids. That child will grow up in a hearing-enabled world able to thrive and succeed in spite of the hearing loss. Speaking and hearing connects people to the world around them. As Helen Keller said “blindness separates people from things, deafness separates people from people.”