Jefferson Awards

• Mar 19, 2008 7:56 pm US/Pacific
• Digg | Facebook | E-mail

  Close WindowE-mail This Page

  Early Help for Children With Hearing Loss

  Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

  ---

  • Recipient E-mail:* 
  • • Your Name:* 
    • Your E-mail:* 
  • Add a Message:
  •   Send me a copy of this e-mail.

  • Type the characters in this picture:* Click here to refresh with new letters

  ---

  The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

  Send E-mail

  | Print

Early Help for Children With Hearing Loss

Jefferson Award Winner: Jill Ellis

Reporting
Kate Kelly

"Any time a child gets their first hearing aid after six months of life, we know now they are missing critical time of brain development," says Jill Ellis.

For Jill, "delay" is a dirty word. As co-founder and Executive Director of "CEID" the Center for Early Intervention on Deafness, she runs the only non profit in the East Bay that offers comprehensive services to children who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth to age five.

Jill says, "We thought if we could create a one-stop shop where parents could get early screening and diagnosis, help with hearing aids, education, parent support, education community outreach, that would really help reverse all the delays and the challenges that this field faces."

Jill earned the equivalent of two masters degrees on the subject, and is passionate about getting help to kids early -- and to their families.

Three-year-old Kaitlyn and her family come to CEID. She was born 24 weeks prematurely and has severe hearing loss. Kaitlyn's mother Tracy Signore says visiting Jill's Center for Early Intervention on Deafness gave her hope.

"There is nothing like seeing the future for your child," says Tracy. "Being able to see these children signing, communicating both with speech and sign, is very hopeful."

At their new home in Berkeley, CEID holds pre- and nursery school classes. Here, children can be tested and fitted for hearing aids, and have individual speech therapy and auditory training. Across the courtyard is the Sunshine Pre School for typical kids -- originally started for siblings, it now offers full inclusion.

Tracy says, "Our whole family has benefitted from this program. My parents and aunts have come here to learn sign as well, so it's a very all-inclusive program. It has a community feel to it."

Some families drive for an hour to get to CEID and no child is turned down.

"We don't have a geographic boundary in any way," Jill explains. "We want our door open to any family who need us."

Federal and state funds pay 60% of the costs. Jill helps raise the rest: some $600,000 a year. It's a solid investment in the future: some early CEID students are now graduating from college. It's the possibilities that keep Jill going.

"I love working with families," she says. "I love that direct service and that really inspires me when I see the kids' progress."

For creating a program to support the families and children who are deaf and hard of hearing, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Jill Ellis.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)