We had such a great time kicking off our 100th year with a celebration at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine last week. Clients, families, staff, and community partners gathered at the Museum to recognize the milestone and share stories of our history.
“Not only are we celebrating 100 years of serving the communities of Southern Maine, but we’re also hoping to raise awareness about communication disorders during the month of May, which is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month,” said Laurie Mack, Executive Director of Northeast Hearing & Speech. “Throughout our history, we’ve seen firsthand how many families are affected by these circumstances, and we want it to be more widely known that there is support available.”
We’re excited to launch several new programs over the course of our anniversary year that will be open to the public and free of charge, including:
● Hear University – A series of workshops beginning in July to support those with hearing loss and their families, touching on topics such as connecting hearing aids to phones; questions about over-the-counter devices; and strategies for communicating with a person who is hard of hearing.
● P.I.N.E. (Parents Interested in Neurodiversity Empowerment) – A support group for parents and families of autistic children, launching June 4th in person and June 28th online. Read more.
● Augmentative and Alternative Communication Training for preschool teachers, launching in developmental preschools in Greater Portland.
Northeast Hearing & Speech has plans to expand these offerings over the next 12 months, continuing to introduce new programming and offer hearing and speech resources throughout the community. More information about the above programming and any upcoming events will be featured on our Facebook page as well as here on the News section of our website.
Additionally, we’re working toward our goal of providing 1200 speech-language and/or hearing screenings or evaluations during the year to identify children ages birth – 8 who need support in these areas. These will be accomplished through our community partnerships, including:
● Free screenings in childcare programs. Currently a partnership with Head Start programs in greater Portland, NHS hopes to expand to other programs in their service area this year.
● Free weekly hearing screenings for children aged 3-6 through Child Development Services through May 21, 2024.
