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A program that began 87 years ago to help the hard of hearing has evolved into The Hearing
and speech Agency with programs that help the very young
with communication disabilities to those in their golden years.
Joining us to talk about the wide range of programs is Jeri Hessan, the Immediate Past
President of the Agency, and Rodney Toulson, who is currently on the
Board. Welcome both of you to On Time. Thanks very much. Thank you.
We've kind of given our viewers and listeners a thumbnail sketch of what you do, can you
go into a little bit greater detail? Jeri?
Well, The Hearing and Speech Agency, as you said, we help infants through people in their
golden years and we help people with hearing and speech-related - any
communication kind of problem. Deafness. We also have a school there
called Gateway School which deals with children and educates them. Most of these children
are on the autism spectrum at some point. That's um, whether
they be mildly on the autism spectrum or severely. And, our professionals
there are just excellent and it's amazing. The children come in completely nonverbal.
Are you all finding that in many instances, there is a connection - if not always but
many times - between hearing impairment and autism?
I don't think that there's a direct connection with that, no.
Okay But, um, again, it's a communication problem,
so Sure
So that's something we're equipped to deal with.
Okay. Absolutely. And, um, Rodney, you're on the Board in your capacity. How do you
help the organization? Well, I'm a parent advocate and a parent liaison.
My relationship with the board started twelve years ago when
my son Rodney, who's now 16, was diagnosed with autism.
Okay. And The Hearing and Speech Agency was instrumental
through the Gateway School with early intervention and now he's
thriving in high school. So, I do a lot of public speaking, fundraising - anything I
can to give back. Right, does having a hearing loss mean that
you'll necessarily have speech problems? It contributes to your speech problems. I
don't think - I'm not a speech therapist Sure
or an audiologist. Um, I don't think it guarantees a speech problem, but for the most part yes.
And, um, we also have programs in the evening and after school
of American Sign Language programs and different things. Because
there's different ways to deal with hearing deficit.
Right Some choose cochlear implants. We have a program
to teach you what you are hearing then. Others, you know, use
American Sign Language. We also have people that go out to different sites to communicate
with, for example, physicians, so when you can't get across your
point, there's someone there that can always help you.
And, um, so we have a huge facility there to help those people.
Is there a, um, is there a benchmark right now to your estimation Jeri, since you're
in this field, in terms of whether people feel like, um, there should
be more implanting of devices so folks can hear, or whether folks
should work more on adapting themselves to the environment? I think it's one of the arguments
that you often hear in the community with those with vision
impairments. There are some who feel like if you have a vision
impairment, you adapt to society. And others feel like society should adapt to them.
There is a very strong Deaf community in which they do not see themselves having a disability
sure because they don't.
And so that is why we have all sorts of programs, um, to teach other people American Sign Language
because it's important that you can communicate with, um,
everyone in the Deaf community. Yes.
There's also been a growing interest - I guess because we're right near Johns Hopkins
Right. for cochlear implants. And, such as your Bob
Turk. Yeah.
you know, received a cochlear implant. And, so we have to keep up with all the various
needs in the Deaf community. So, whether it be having someone help them
communicate with others through our interpreters, or having a child get
a cochlear implant and teaching - not only the child - but their hearing, but teaching
parents, or the adults in their life to understand what they're going
through. Right. Now you mention Bob Turk and the cochlear
implant that he received. That kind of dovetails into your
upcoming VIBE event. Let's talk about that. It's a great, great event. We started it in
2006. This is our fifth event. And it, it started so we go our name
out in the Baltimore area. Sure.
so people knew we were there. And, we do it to raise funds to help with all our various
programs, including speech pathology, our interpreter service,
the Gateway School. We have an early intervention, um auditory program
for very children. And, it's just a very fun evening. Um, and we do it in May because May
is Better Hearing and Speech Month. (okay) So, it's going to be
at The Center Club on May 3. (okay) It's a wonderful event.
And Bob Turk will be honored Bob Turk will be honored as our Communicator
of the Year. And Mary Bubala (yup) my colleague, is going
to be hosting? She's, yes she's emceeing for the second time
in a row and she is just a delight. And Rodney, was your son at the Gateway School?
Yes, Rodney attended the Gateway School from five years until - he started when he was
five years old - and he graduated at twelve, so.
Wow, so he was there for all of his matriculation through school. How much of a difference do
you think it makes for him to have gone through that program
vs. not receiving that specialized attention? Well, any time children with autism, one of
the main points is early intervention. Because as soon as you can get
early intervention the prognosis for the future is, is a lot better and Rodney started his
intervention when he was five. And, so, without The Hearing
and Speech Agency and the specialized training of the staff and the
curriculum, the teaching, um, it made a tremendous difference.
Is, and once he finishes school, he will, he'll be able to live an independent life,
um, doing whatever he wants to do, is that how you and your family envision?
Absolutely. Yes. In fact, he goes to now to a school called The Harbour School (yes) and
we just received a letter today, um, they have a transitioning stage
and they send them to different places to get employment opportunities
and he's going to be starting at PetCo on March 25. He'll be doing some stacking.
Okay, very good! Always good to make some money.
Absolutely. (laughter) He's excited about that?
Yes, and we are too. And, he, does he graduate this year? Or next
year? Well, he actually graduates, he'll graduate
in two years. In two years. (yes) He'll graduate in two
years. Alright. Sounds good. Well thank you, Jeri and Rodney for coming
on today. We do appreciate it. Well thank you.
We wish you a lot of success. Those, if someone's interested, in the Gateway School, I would
imagine a program like this obviously has a cost associated
with it. How would one get to the school? Is there a?
Well, we have a wonderful website that can give you information on all the things that
we have to offer (sure) and how to go about - if your child - if you
would like to see about taking a tour to see if your child is a -
if the Gateway School would be appropriate for them. (yeah) And, it's H-A-S-A dot org.
And do people normally give to you Jeri through a recommendation from a physician who believes
that the child could benefit from the services?
Recommendation from a physician, from, from the school, um, from early intervention (right)
um, or just someone who's heard about us from someone else.
Thank you both for coming on. We appreciate it today.
Thank you. Absolutely.
Thank you very much. Alright. Then, once again, if you'd like more
information on The Hearing and Speech Agency, give them a call.
410 318 6780. You can also, you can also go to their website and you can support their
mission by attending VIBE, which is May 3, beginning at 6:30 pm
at The Center Club. For tickets, call 410 318 6780 or go to their
website.