THE CHILDREN’S HEARING INSTITUTE

25 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP, COMPASSION, AND CARE

Founded in 1983 by Dr. Simon Parisier and his wife Elaine, The Children’s Hearing Institute has dedicated itself to helping children with hearing loss and their families. In the past two and a half decades, The Institute has pioneered research, education, and therapeutic efforts that have immeasurably improved the lives of deaf children.

Among the Institute’s most significant accomplishments is its support of work with Cochlear Implants. In 1979, Dr. Parisier began his groundbreaking work with this device, which is surgically placed in the cochlea, restoring sound to deaf ears. Recognizing that surgical intervention alone would not ensure a child’s successful acquisition of the skills needed to develop listening, spoken language, thinking and learning, Dr. and Mrs. Parisier founded The Institute to develop and fund research and a variety of educational and clinical services that support a child’s development and education.

The Institute concentrates its efforts in three broad areas: support for education, clinical services, and research.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Parent Education

Recognizing the need to support and educate parents in the often challenging work of raising a hearing impaired child, the Institute/Klein center sponsors a variety of workshops for parents. These workshops cover many topics, including introduction to hearing and hearing rehabilitation basics, maximizing auditory performance, and educational issues. Workshops are offered in Spanish and English.

Teen and Elementary Workshops

These social workshops enable teens and younger children to meet and develop friendships with fellow hearing impaired individuals. The goal of the workshops is to lessen feelings of isolation that can result from hearing loss.

Professional Education

The Klein Center’s extensive Professional Education Program includes workshops and conferences on a wide variety of topics for professionals that serve deaf and hard of hearing children. Professionals acquire knowledge and skills about audiological, educational and hearing habilitation issues which they can then use in the field to benefit deaf and hard of hearing children. The sessions are taught by leaders in their respective fields, and draw on clinicians from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary’s Ear Institute, as well as many other nationally recognized institutions.

The Susan Klein Center for Educational Outreach

Established in 2004 with a generous gift from Robert Klein in honor of his wife Susan, the Klein Center sponsors a wide ranging and varied educational program that serves every facet of the community.

The Institute/ Klein Center provides support to parents and students in educational planning and school selection, as well as in development of the individual education plan (IEP).

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Educational Specialists and Educational Audiologists from the Institute/Klein Center visit classrooms and schools to maximize each child’s learning success.

These in-school services include classroom observation, advocacy, and support, in addition to in-service sessions about hearing aids, FMS, cochlear implants and assistive devices. These professionals support children, parents and teachers in their efforts to provide the best possible education for their children.

Clinical Services

The Children’s Hearing Institute is a strong supporter of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary’s Ear Institute’s pediatric services. Named one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by US News and World Report, The Infirmary has a long and illustrious history of serving individuals with hearing disorders.

The Ear Institute, a new state of the art clinical facility inaugurated in January 2008, features seven fully equipped state of the art audiological booths, a hearing aid dispensary, programming rooms for mapping cochlear implants, facilities for group and individual pediatric hearing habilitation, and a large suite of offices for professional consultation and counseling.  

Pediatric services emphasize the “whole child” approach, and the Ear Institute is committed to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children through a wide variety of clinical services.

Audiology

Ear Institute audiologists are experts at testing and diagnosing infants and children from birth to young adulthood. The clinicians have at their disposal a wide variety of tests and techniques that can identify type, degree, and severity of hearing loss.

Once hearing loss is identified, the clinical staff can dispense hearing aids to even the youngest child. The dispensary has the ability to provide almost any hearing aid available, and the audiologist can custom fit hearing aids to meet the individual amplification needs of each child.

Parents are provided with a wealth of information as well as hands-on experience in managing hearing aids.

If a cochlear implant is warranted, audiologists work with Infirmary physicians for a smooth, seamless transition. Once implanted, children return to the Center for programming and continued audiological assessment.

Cochlear Implants

Ear Institute physicians and audiologists have been leaders in the development of cochlear implant technology and its applications for decades.

When cochlear implants are identified as appropriate for a child, audiologists work with Ear Institute physicians to ensure a smooth and seamless transition into the world of hearing. Following surgery, the audiologist works with the cochlear implant recipient to program the device to its optimal effectiveness. Patients return for time to time for further adjustments. The patient and his family benefits enormously for the Ear Institute collaborative, multidisciplinary approach, which treats the “whole child.” The audiologist receives input from parents, speech language pathologists and teachers to ensure that the child is receiving maximum benefit from his implant.

Hearing Habilitation

When hearing is impaired, language is delayed. Speech language pathologists work to develop age appropriate receptive and expressive language for children through both group and individual therapy sessions. The Ear Institute believes in the earliest possible intervention and works with infants as young as six months. Early and continuous intervention helps children “catch up” to their normal hearing peers. Throughout a child’s life, speech and language assessments gauge a child’s progress and needs. Parents become partners with clinicians to bring what is learned in the clinic home.

Research 

Since its inception, The Children’s Hearing Institute has supported important research projects that will ultimately benefit the lives of deaf and hard of hearing children and their families. Current funded research includes a project on the genetic origins of hearing loss, and clinic based research aimed at improving techniques and practices.             

Clinical research studies have focused on cochlear implant indications, outcomes, and analysis of prognostic factors. Clinic based research currently seeks to improve and expand clinical practices to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing children.

In addition, through grants to medical colleges and research institutions, The Children’s Hearing Institute has provided funds to study the genetic origins of hearing loss, and to further understand the origins of cholesteatoma, a congenital, destructive ear disorder.

In addition, through modest grants to like-minded non-profit groups and agencies, The Children’s Hearing Institute aims to support their efforts, which will ultimately improve the lives of all people that are deaf or hard of hearing.

The Institute is also a national resource for information on deafness, the treatment and rehabilitation of deaf and hard of hearing children, cochlear implants, and a wide range of otolaryngogical, audiological, hearing habilitation, and technical issues. Through its website, and its support and participation in national and international conferences, The Institute shares its knowledge with a wide range of constituencies. Of special importance is the education of deaf children in the mainstream. The Institute’s efforts focus on enlisting the support of everyone involved in the child’s education: parents, family, teachers and clinicians to ensure success.

For 25 years, through the generous support of its donors, The Institute has succeeded in making hearing loss, the nation’s number one birth defect and leading disability, to become an issue of national concern. We are grateful to all who have advanced our critical mission, “that all may hear the universal language of music.”