Why HASA?

Baltimore’s center for language and communication

How do you interact with the world and your community without being able to understand and be understood? Between 6 and 8 million people in the U.S. have some form of speech impairment and approximately 37.5 million adults in the U.S. report some trouble hearing. Through education, hearing health, inclusion, language access, and speech and language programs, we make communication accessible to all.

Founded in 1926 as a community gathering place for the hard of hearing, HASA has grown into an organization that serves more than 4,000 children and adults every year, helping them communicate more effectively. With programming both on our Baltimore campus and through community-based programming, we provide education, access, and medical support to anyone who needs it.

We envision a society where everyone can understand and be understood and where everyone is treated with integrity, compassion, and equity. Join us.


HASA programs

Our clients are diverse and have diverse needs. The priority focus areas for HASA include the following:

EDUCATION – Gateway School provides students with the language-rich curriculum needed to establish a lifelong love of learning. Learn more

HEARING HEALTH – Noise-induced hearing loss and a lack of access to affordable hearing health care is a public health crisis. HASA provides affordable treatment options and hearing conservation programs throughout the community. Learn more

INCLUSION – Diversity in communication modalities is an important component of an inclusive society. HASA gives employers, schools, and others the tools they need to welcome communication diversity while also empowering individuals to communicate in the manner most effective for their communication needs (e.g. sign language, spoken English, augmentative or alternative communication systems).

LANGUAGE ACCESS – American Sign Language (ASL) is a critical and widely-used communication tool for the hearing and the Deaf community. HASA provides the interpreting, ASL education, and training needed to improve language access for all. Learn more about interpreting services

SPEECH & LANGUAGE – Intervention and treatment of speech and language conditions improve educational outcomes for children and have a tremendous impact on success in adult life. Therapeutic services are available to children and adults – both on our campus and in the community. Learn about our clinic


Mission, vision, and values

MISSION STATEMENT
Connecting people to their worlds

VISION STATEMENT
A society where everyone can understand and be understood

CORE VALUES
Integrity, compassion, equity

Statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders