/index.php/news/ en sarah@hasa.org Copyright 2012 2012-05-11T15:47:06+00:00 /site/learn-to-fingerspell/ /site/learn-to-fingerspell/#When:15:47:06Z Learn to fingerspell with this fun game for kids of all ages... if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('4bb168c2-1283-4398-aed4-65bdd749a5c6');Get the Practice ASL Fingerspelling widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info) 2012-05-11T15:47:06+00:00 /site/communication-options-for-my-child/ /site/communication-options-for-my-child/#When:16:34:17Z Join us on Wednesday, May 23 for a parent/professional seminar that you don't want to miss. One of the biggest challenges facing families of children who are deaf and/or hard of hearing is identifying, locating and accessing necessary educational and therapeutic resources. Thise seminar, hosted jointly by the Family Support & Resource Center and The Hearing and Speech Agency, aims to: Provide information about communication and educational options Provide an opportunity to share personal experiences Offer a networking and family support opportunity to families of children who are deaf and/or hard of hearing and the professionals who work with them Click here>> to register Educational Options Wednesday, May 23, 2012 6pm | HASA Auditorium Learn more about the programs available to families in the Baltimore area with representatives from several local organizations, including the Maryland School for the Deaf, The Hearing and Speech Agency | Gateway School, Baltimore Infants and Toddlers and many of the local school systems. Panel Discussion Adults who are deaf and/or hard of hearing will discuss their experiences in childhood, school and beyond through various communication and educational methods. It is sure to be a lively evening!   Attendance is free. Registration Required. 2012-05-04T16:34:17+00:00 /site/cancellation-policy-accommodations/ /site/cancellation-policy-accommodations/#When:20:49:39Z Cancellation Policy CIRS reserves the right to cancel this workshop within seven days of the scheduled event. All paid registrations will be refunded. Registration cancellations will be refunded in full if requested at least five days prior to the scheduled workshop. 50% of registration fees will be refunded for cancellations requested within five days of a scheduled event. Failure to attend event for which registration is confirmed will result in fortfeiture. Forfeited registration fees may not be applied to a future event. Special Accommodations The Hearing and Speech Agency honors all requests for accommodations.  If you have dietary restrictions or are in need of special accommodations, please contact us via email with your request at least seven days prior to the scheduled event. 2012-01-09T20:49:39+00:00 /site/2011-annual-report-now-available/ /site/2011-annual-report-now-available/#When:21:04:11Z View it online or download your own copy. 2011-11-28T21:04:11+00:00 /site/Make-Your-Shopping-Count/ /site/Make-Your-Shopping-Count/#When:16:21:21Z Help Gateway School & HASA earn school supplies and financial support while you shop. Did you know that The Hearing and Speech Agency and Gateway School can earn cash donations from retailers by just shopping in their stores or on the Internet? Grandparents, neighbors and friends can take part in all the programs, too. YOU SEARCH OR SHOP... WE GIVE! Raise money for HASA (Hearing and Speech Agency)just by searching the web and shopping online! GoodSearch (Choose a Merchant) Most Popular Stores 1800CONTACTS Coupons B&H Photo Coupons Disney Store Coupons Enterprise Rent-A-Car Coupons Finish Line Coupons Forever 21 Coupons GoDaddy Coupons Golfsmith Coupons J.Crew Coupons Justice Coupons Metrostyle Coupons Montgomery Ward Coupons OfficeMax Coupons Paula Young Coupons Scentiments Coupons Sephora Coupons Skechers Coupons Thrifty Car Rental Coupons TigerDirect Coupons Travelocity Coupons GoodShop Coupons   Add to your site Get our toolbar! Your participation is greatly appreciated and will help HASA provide services and programs to individuals with communication differences in our community.  GIANT  Register your card online and choose ID# 01440 for Gateway School.     SAFEWAY Register your card online and choose GROUP ID# 6654031 for Gateway School.   TARGET Register your card online and choose ID# 21893 for Gateway School.   REMINDER: Even if you registered your card last year, you MUST RE-REGISTER this year for Gateway to receive credit. Attending to this simple process makes a HUGE difference to our students.   Box Top and Label Collection Our goal this year is to collect 5,000 points. Simply save UPCs from participating products and send them to our school. Look for the LABELS FOR EDUCATION logo on participating products or visit the website for a complete list of eligible products and collection values.     Gateway School earns $.10 for every box top coupon that is collected from a wide variety of food products and related items. Look for the BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION logo or visit the website for a complete list of eligible products.   We use money & points collected to purchase books, playground equipment and even computers, depending upon how many coupons are collected. Ask family members and friends to save their box top coupons & labels for us.  Labels & BoxTops may be sent to: Gateway School Attn: Pat Phillips 5900 Metro Drive Baltimore, MD 21215 school 2011-11-23T16:21:21+00:00 /site/hasa-welcomes-two-new-board-members/ /site/hasa-welcomes-two-new-board-members/#When:16:44:38Z Welcome to Beverly Richards and Aaron Marshall, the newest members of HASA's Board of Directors. The Hearing and Speech Agency (HASA), a non-profit organization providing audiology and speech-language pathology services, special education for children with communication needs and interpreting services for the deaf, announces the election of two new members to its Board of Directors: BEVERLY RICHARDS Ms. Richards is the Director of Development at Coppin State University. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in English from the University of Baltimore and is currently working towards her Master of Public Administration degree. She worked to raise more than $8 million to support Coppin's Helene Fuld School of Nursing. She served as the editor of the Luminaire, the School of Nursing Magazine, which promotes leadership and personal development of faculty, staff and students and has planned and executed ARTcetra, an annual art auction to benefit the school. Prior to her tenure at Coppin State University, she was with The Department of Business & Economic Development for the state of Maryland, The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was owner of her own public relations firm, The Richburg Group. Beverly has received the Maryland Chapter Public Relations Society of Maryland award and an award from the Maryland Business Review. In addition, she is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha, the National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. Her special interests range from storytelling and creative writing to being a member of Griot Circle of Maryland, Inc., an oral historian group that brings traditional African stories, poems and songs to life across the United States and in other countries. AARON T. MARSHALL, ESQ. A Widener University School of Law graduate, Aaron also has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Delaware. Currently, he is Senior Counsel with the Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he has worked since 2006. Prior to that position, Aaron was Associate Legal Advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Assistant General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Prisons; and DOJ Honors Attorney. His areas of expertise include serving as a corporate attorney advising multiple business areas in government and commercial contracting, evaluation of business risks, conducting internal investigations, compliance with company policies and applicable laws, business ethics and commercial leases. He also has diversified senior level experience with federal agencies advising on the formation and administration of government schedule contracts and employment litigation before administrative courts. Aaron is currently a Director with the Association of Corporate Counsel - Baltimore Area Chapter, a pro bono counsel for the Maryland volunteer Lawyers Service. He has been a student at the American Academy of Martial Arts and ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 2004. HASA Board President Jeri Hessan states, "Beverly and Aaron possess a passion for community service that, when combined with their impressive resumes, will serve The Hearing and Speech Agency well for years to come." The Hearing and Speech Agency is pleased to introduce Beverly and Aaron as part of the leadership of the Board of Directors. Read the full press release here>> 2011-09-28T16:44:38+00:00 /site/hasa-chosen-for-weinberg-grant/ /site/hasa-chosen-for-weinberg-grant/#When:15:12:38Z The Hearing and Speech Agency was honored with a Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Employee Giving Program gift of $10,000. The Hearing and Speech Agency was honored with a Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Employee Giving Program gift of $10,000 on July 26, 2011 along with 14 other nonprofit organizations. HASA was nominated for the gift by Yvonne Sporrer, a Weinberg Foundation staff member. The award, presented at a luncheon at the Pier V Hotel, was accepted by Susan Glasgow, Executive Director. She announced that the donation will help provide audiology services and hearing aids to older adults who are hard of hearing.    Some astounding facts Eighteen percent of adults in the United States experience hearing difficulty. Hearing loss can interfere with education, employment opportunities and interpersonal communication and many elderly people struggle with isolation, health care and depression. Audiologic rehabilitation promotes successful hearing aid use and improves communication and psychosocial functioning, but many elderly people can't afford treatment. Hearing aids have proven effective in alleviating the communicative and psychosocial consequences of hearing loss in adults. Effects are most pronounced in the areas of social, emotional and communicative function and remain one year after sustained hearing aid use. Hearing aids represent a relatively inexpensive intervention for the amount of benefit gained. Read the Story on Yahoo News!  2011-07-28T15:12:38+00:00 /site/gateway-school-makes-list-of-top-special-needs-schools/ /site/gateway-school-makes-list-of-top-special-needs-schools/#When:15:08:43Z The Baltimore Business Journal listed Gateway School as one of the  largest special needs schools in Baltimore. The Baltimore Business Journal (April 13 issue) listed Gateway School as one of the 25 largest special needs schools in the Baltimore area, as ranked by 2010 -2011 enrollment.  Students are ages 3-12. Gateway School offers a language-based curriculum for students with a variety of communication differences, such as:  Autism Spectrum Disorders Developmental Delay Hearing Impairment Speech/Language Challenges Other Health Impairments that Affect Communication Gateway at a Glance Gateway School, founded in 1960, is a nonpublic, coeducational facility for students ages 3 through 12 with communication disorders related to autism, developmental delay, hearing impairment, other speech, language or health impairment. Our new, state-of-the-art campus offers bright classrooms equipped with sound-field systems and personal FM systems, speech-language therapy rooms, a library, computer lab, auditorium, gymnasium and playground. Each Gateway student has an individualized education plan to guide his/her team of professionals, which may include:  Special education teacher  Teacher of the Deaf Instructional assistant Speech-language pathologist Social worker Audiologist  Behavior specialist Occupational and/or physical therapist  Psychologist  School nurse  Related service professionals provide intensive therapeutic intervention to support the student’s participation in the educational program.  Interested in a tour?  More information?  Just let us know here>> 2011-07-07T15:08:43+00:00 /site/announcing-maryland-public-television-partnership/ /site/announcing-maryland-public-television-partnership/#When:17:27:50Z HASA is proud to announce its partnership with Maryland Public Television to provide closed captioning for all locally-produced programming. HASA is proud to announce its partnership with Maryland Public Television to provide closed captioning for all locally-produced programming. We'll be announcing news and updates on the partnership right here, so stay tuned! 2011-05-25T17:27:50+00:00 /site/register-online-for-sign-language-classes/ /site/register-online-for-sign-language-classes/#When:16:44:12Z Have you always wanted to learn sign language? Here's your chance!  click here to view a complete schedule for 2012.    SUMMER CLASSES (Summer Fun Signs & Children's ASL) begin on July 17. Registration deadline: July 10.   If you would prefer not to register online, simply return this form with payment to: HASA ASL Registration | 5900 Metro Drive | Baltimore, MD 21215 SIGNING NATURALLY The Hearing and Speech Agency has taught American Sign Language (ASL) using the highly successful and well-respected method, Signing Naturally, since 1988. Signing Naturally is a non-verbal approach that is taught at many institutions across the country, including Gallaudet University. To encourage students to think in signs, students and instructors avoid using speech in the classroom. Interpersonal communication (not simply learning signs for English words) is emphasized. Students focus on functions of specific everyday interactions that range from inviting someone to sit down to more abstract communication, such as giving directions or problem solving. Grammar is learned in the context of these communications. An additional benefit of this non-verbal, conceptual approach is the development of a cross-cultural awareness of the Deaf community. COSTS AND POLICIES Adult ASL classes (10 weeks) are $135. Course materials(book with DVD) are required for your ASL 1, ASL2, and ASL3 and cost $65. Once purchased, course materials are good for all levels offered, so they only need to be purchased once. No materials are required for ASL 4, Conversation. Summer Fun Signs Course Fee is $90, with no required materials. Children’s ASL classes are $85, no materials required. Parents may accompany a registered child during class for an additional $45. AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE 1 Units 1 - 2 Introducing oneself, exchanging personal information, talking about surroundings, telling where you live AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE 2 Units 3 - 4 Talking about your family, telling about activities, giving directions, describing others AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE 3 Units 5 - 6 Making requests, talking about family and occupations, attributing qualities to others, talking about routines AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE 4 Conversation This class is designed for those who have signing experience equivalent to completing ASL 3 and who want the opportunity to learn more ASL vocabulary and grammar and further develop their conversational skills. CHILDREN'S ASL (for ages 5-12) Children start by learning to fingerspell the alphabet and their names. As they learn signs for everyday activities and to communicate, they also enjoy making craft projects that reinforce the signing learned in class. The session culminates in a performance during the final class. Parent may accompany child for an additional fee. CUSTOMIZED CLASSES To inquire about sign language classes that are designed specifically for your need and held at your workplace or another location, please call 410.318.6780 x ll8. REFUNDS and CLASS Cancellations  Course fee is refundable minus a $10 processing fee if notification that the student will not take the class is given prior to the first session. Be assured that every effort will be made to prevent any class cancellations. However, we must reserve the right to do so if the need arises. Should this occur, you will be notified as soon as possible. In the event of cancellation, full refunds will be made. interpreting 2011-05-20T16:44:12+00:00 /site/get-tested/ /site/get-tested/#When:15:19:08Z May is Better Hearing and Speech Month.  Join us for a wide variety of events and opportunities to promote the importance of communication! HASA events in May: The Entire Month of May - $10 Hearing Screenings during our GetTested! Campaign (available to new patients only). Sign Up>> today! Thursday, May 10 - DeafJam Screening. Don't miss one of the most talked-about documentaries of the last year! Learn more>> Thursday, May 24 - HLAA monthly meeting in the HASA Auditorium. Learn more Friday, May 25 - Spring Fling at Gateway School Want to stay involved? Follow us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/hasa.md Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hasa_md Sign up for eNews: right to your inbox! Gifts to buy for Mothers Day? Fathers Day? Weddings & graduations? Use GoodShop and iGive to benefit HASA! iGive contributes to HASA every time you search or shop.  Add the Goodsearch toolbar and every time you make a search, HASA gets a contribution! Or make Goodsearch your home page! GoodShop has all the online stores you want, and you can raise money for HASA!   2011-04-14T15:19:08+00:00 /site/hasa-clinician-quoted-for-new-article/ /site/hasa-clinician-quoted-for-new-article/#When:22:13:01Z Olga Polites shares her expertise with Baltimore's Child magazine. Baby & Toddler - April 2011 What are the skills that lead to language? By Elizabeth Heubeck There's nothing quite like hearing your baby utter "Mama" or "Dada" for the first time. These words, which very often are the first that parents hear from their baby's mouth, mark the beginning of what we adults consider "real" language. But the seeds of communication start long before babies say their first intelligible word. In fact, babies begin building communication skills as soon as they're born, explains Olga Polites, director of Clinical Services at Baltimore's Hearing and Speech Agency. She offers a general timeline of when these precursor skills to speech develop, as well as ways that parents can encourage them. Birth to 6 Months Infants learn very early on in life the power of communication, explains Polites. In the first few months, babies figure out that when they make a sound, they get a reaction. In simpler terms, a baby cries, and normally those cries are answered by a responsive adult fairly quickly. In addition to the urgent form of communication that is crying, vocal play also emerges in the first few months of life. This usually entails vowel-like sounds, followed by the sounds of "m," "p," and "d," which, according to Polites, are easiest to imitate. Over the next few months, babies’ crying "matures," if you will. According to Polites, they learn to vary the tone of their voice, allowing them to express different feelings. Subsequently, discerning parents often begin to learn the difference between a cry that signals mild discomfort—such as hunger, fatigue, or boredom—and more serious distress, such as the pain from a new tooth breaking through a baby’s gum. As crying becomes more sophisticated, so too does vocal play. Parents may notice their babies making the silly sound often called raspberries, involving vibrating lips and a lot of superfluous spit. "These noises are very much reinforced by parents," Polites says. Ages 6 to 9 Months During this period comes more experimentation with vocal play. Babies will often begin to babble, repeating a single syllable in one breath such as "bbbbbbb." "It doesn’t have a lot of meaning," says Polites. "It’s just play." As the muscles of their mouths strengthen, babies realize they are able to make these fun sounds. The more encouragement they receive—from older kids and adults who laugh and mimic the babbling—the more confident they get in their babbling, and the more they’re likely to experiment. Ages 9 to 12 Months During this time, babies typically attempt to imitate words. Polites says, "They babble longer strings of sound that soon become words." While the first word that comes tumbling out of the mouth of a baby is often (to parents’ great delight) "Mama" or "Dada," Polites says it has nothing to do with the infant’s ability to accurately identify his or her caregivers. Rather, she explains, the "d" and the "m" happen to be sounds that are fairly easy for these new talkers to make. But this advanced vocal play soon takes on new meaning, as babies make a connection between their calls of "Mama" and the appearance of their mother. When you break down the multiple steps that occur before the first words come out of a baby’s mouth, it becomes evident that the development of language does not simply happen overnight. And just as an infant must build up to this exciting milestone, parents can do their part to encourage the arrival and continuation of speech. "Talk to your child," Polites says. "It needs to be almost an obsession. The more language they hear, the more they’re comfortable with it, and the more they learn.BC Tips for Talking to Babies So They’ll Talk Back Olga Polites, director of Clinical Services at Baltimore's Hearing and Speech Agency, offers the following suggestions: Talk to babies about everything, such as what you see around you and what you hear. Use language that’s appropriate and not too elevated. Read to your child early and often. © Baltimore’s Child Inc. April 2011 2011-03-31T22:13:01+00:00 /site/support-the-gateway-school-bounce-a-thon/ /site/support-the-gateway-school-bounce-a-thon/#When:15:57:46Z The Bounce-a-Thon is right around the corner.  Learn how you can help! The Bounce-a-Thon is right around the corner! Sponsored by the Parents' Association of Gateway School, the Bounce-a-Thon will be held on Friday, April 27. The funds our children collect for all their bounces will fund another Gateway favorite - the annual Spring Fling. Each child will have a turn to jump & bounce in the big moon bounce. This is a healthy way for our kids to raise money for their school, and have fun doing it! 2011-03-28T15:57:46+00:00 /site/hasa-in-the-news/ /site/hasa-in-the-news/#When:16:41:42Z What levels are safe for your child's mp3 player? How long is too long to listen? Are headphones safer than earbuds?  Get the answers in the March issue of Baltimore's Child.   Musical Notes Play MP3s safe—and low By Joyce Heid March 2011 First introduced to the public in the 1970s, the portable stereo, otherwise called a boom box, achieved the height of its popularity in the 1980s. Some boom boxes were as large as three feet long and could play music so loudly that parents implored their teenagers to, "Turn that music down, or you’ll go deaf!" Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a teenager carrying a stereo on his or her shoulder. Instead, he or she is carrying an MP3 player in a pocket. And it's not just teenagers who are carrying these players; even preteens are part of what is often called the MP3 Generation, with ear buds replacing speakers and tiny digital audio players replacing giant boom boxes. Jeremy, 14, and Makenzie, 11, are part of the MP3 Generation, each having their own iPod. Their mother, Rene Kraft, of Pasadena, remembers listening to loud music through huge stereo speakers when she was their age. She says that, even though her children's iPods may be smaller, she knows the danger of hearing loss is still there. That’s why Kraft has imposed strict limits on their use, saying, "If it doesn’t get turned down, it gets taken away." Julie Norin is a doctor of audiology with the Hearing and Speech Agency in Baltimore. Norin believes that children today may very well be at a greater risk due to the excessive noise exposure starting at such young ages. "Excessive noise exposure will definitely contribute to any potential age-related hearing loss down the road," says Norin. She explains how sound can damage a child’s hearing. "Most people are not aware that noise actually increases in sound pressure level when it reaches the ear, travels through the ear canal, and reaches the inner ear. This is to ensure that sound is able to travel through the fluid of the inner ear and reach the hair cells at a strong enough level to stimulate the auditory nerve at normal hearing levels," she explains. "The hair cells are responsible for releasing neurotransmitters that stimulate the auditory nerve, sending the signal to the brain. All of the structures [ear canal, eardrum, middle ear bones, hair cells, and auditory nerve] have to be functioning well in order for sound to reach the brain at normal hearing levels. "When the auditory system is exposed to sound at hazardous levels, it essentially becomes too much for the auditory system to handle," Norin continues. "An impulse sound, such as gunfire or explosion, can cause the eardrum to burst, or the hair cells within the cochlea (a spiral tube forming part of the inner ear, which is the essential organ of hearing) can weaken, bend, break, or disintegrate if the sound pressure level is too strong. When this happens—whether it is exposure over long-term, such as from improper use of an MP3 player or exposure to an impulse sound—the structures within the auditory system can no longer function at full capacity, which causes a decrease in the ability to hear at normal levels." Keep It Down Volume-limiting ear buds also can be used with other devices that use headphones, such as DVD players and handheld gaming systems. Norin also urges parents to limit the length of time their child uses an MP3 player, just as they would limit exposure to television or the computer. She warns that MP3 players can be used as long as 12 hours before needing to be recharged, but ear damage can occur in as little as 15 or 20 minutes if the volume is up too high. Finally, she asks parents if they’ve noticed their child playing the television at a higher volume than usual, talking louder than is customary, or asking him or her to repeat what they’ve just said. If you suspect that your child already may be developing a hearing loss, Norin says to contact an audiologist and schedule an appointment to have your child’s hearing evaluated. In fact, even without symptoms, Norin says, "I recommend to any concerned parents, to have their child’s hearing tested whether they suspect a hearing loss or not, in order to establish a baseline. And then, at the very least, return for annual hearing tests to monitor for any changes." BC © Baltimore’s Child Inc. March 2011 2011-02-23T16:41:42+00:00 /site/soundscape-map/ /site/soundscape-map/#When:17:02:47Z Looking for The Baltimore Soundscape Project Information?  We're gearing up for The Baltimore Soundscape Project! Get more information and register here>> 2010-11-19T17:02:47+00:00