ANNUAL REPORT July 2006-June, 2007

A Message from the Executive Director

Our name, the Hearing & Speech Institute, just doesn’t tell the whole story these days. Community needs have changed, and we’ve responded. We’re working with the knowledge that communication and successful relationships don’t happen in a vacuum, and the path to full communication is often winding and divergent. We see the needs of the whole client when we begin a relationship here at the Institute and collaborate across disciplines to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Through diagnosis, treatment, education and research, we are changing lives, one family at a time.

We’ve re-focused our service offerings and strengthened our development efforts over the past year. Our audiology department has set itself apart from the highly competitive arena of hearing aid dispensers, private audiology practices and physician specialists, by emphasizing rehabilitation, restoring communication, and education. Our services to children and their families continue to focus on diagnosis and intensive treatment of disabilities that affect a child’s ability to communicate, but have expanded significantly into other areas of developmental health as well. In response to feedback from parents and providers in the community, we have added services in developmental/behavioral pediatrics to provide evaluation and ongoing case management for children with communication and developmental delays, ADHD, behavior issues, autism and other issues affecting their ability to relate effectively with family and the environment. We have expanded our rehabilitation services beyond our traditional services in speech-language pathology to include occupational therapy, pediatric audiology, clinical psychology, and counseling. Neuropsychologists provide in depth assessments to aid in effective diagnosis and treatment planning.

As we have observed the rapid change in our service environment and the changing needs of our young clients, we are developing our Northwest Early Childhood Institute division. The mission of NWECI - "bringing science to promote healthy social, emotional and mental development of babies and young children through education, training, research and prevention" adds a new dimension to the work of the combined organization. Through this collaborative relationship between our clinical staff and a superb group of pediatricians, child psychiatrists and psychologists, educators and community members, we are enhancing the services we provide to children and their families, bringing the latest science to practice and working to improve systems of care for all children in the community.

What hasn’t changed is our mission to “empower people of all ages to achieve their full communication potential,” and our commitment to living an established set of core values that makes the Hearing & Speech Institute a uniquely accessible and valuable resource in the Portland metro area - and a very pleasurable place to work.

Donald S. Rushmer, Ph.D., Executive Director

With Your Generous Support....

Many pathways have lead to a successful year in helping children and adults achieve their full communication potential. We couldn’t have done it without our generous supporters. Gifts to the Institute in the coming year mean that we can continue to develop programs that meet the changing needs of the community and clients as whole beings. And we will continue to provide services to all in need, regardless of their ability to pay for services. Here are a few examples of how we’re doing this today.

Taking Language Learning on the Road The Language & Literacy Program completed a very successful pilot project this summer in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, a low-income, culturally diverse community. Sixteen children and their families participated in this nine-week program. The pilot program was supported by the Hoover Family Foundation and the Key Foundation. Support for learning was provided after school two days a week, and incorporated well-researched teaching strategies in a small group format. Based on pre- and post-testing, each child made changes in one or more areas of literacy acquisition that boosted their chances of achieving functional levels of literacy by third or fourth grade. In addition, educational staff reported significant growth in students who participated. The partnership with Sitton Elementary was key; the project provided resources that were not

available to the school, but were provided within an educational setting. The project also provided an important clinical training opportunity for graduate students in speech-language pathology at Portland State University.

Because this program was so successful, we’re launching an ongoing outreach project to run throughout the academic year for two years in the St. Johns community and another location yet to be determined. We’re searching for funding to make this vision a reality.

Parents are Key Toward Mapping Success for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder A new parent training program called “Teaching Social-Communication Skills to Children with Autism” is now in full swing at the Institute. The program is aimed at teaching parents evidence-based intervention techniques. A Parent Training Manual was written and is given to each family participating in the program, and a therapy model called “Floortime” is used while working with the children. Referrals for intervention services are made directly from the Child Development Rehabilitation Center (CDRC), a program of OHSU, to the Hearing & Speech Institute to create a “seamless” provision of services to families. Twenty two children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have participated in the individualized parent training since January 2003. We have developed an evening Parent Education & Support Group that meets bi-weekly, to help parents gather information about treatment options, community resources, and support.

Here’s what one participating parent had to say about the program:

“. . . The approach developed by Anna Dvortcsak and Brooke Ingersoll has affected the current and future quality of life of our family far beyond what we could describe.
. . . the implementation of this training program enabled our family to coordinate the 20 hours per week of therapy that was prescribed for our autistic child Jessica by the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center (OHSU). Anna’s guidance in incorporating this therapy into our family life made the goal not only reasonable, but gave all of us the gift of understanding how to talk to Jessica, how to listen to Jessica, how to teach Jessica, how to learn from Jessica and most importantly, how to laugh and play with Jessica. Our life has changed dramatically in the last 8 months, every room has a floortime play area, routines include set aside times for indirect and direct therapy, and Jessica participates in various therapy sessions four times each week. My desk, car and house are filled with handouts from the program guiding specific goals for Jessica’s interaction, engagement and speech. We breathe floortime, because Anna and the program made us believe in the approach. And now, miraculously, Jessica integrates and communicates.”

“Treatment is about changing and improving our communication with our autistic children on a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment basis. What better way is there for parents to take responsibility than through a comprehensive parent training program.”

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Revenue

Contributions $ 816,143 Foundations & Corporate Gifts $ 187,643 United Way $ 203,941 Special Events $ 192,252 Earned Income - Fees & Sales $ 3,282,178 Endowment Earnings $521,312 TOTAL Revenue $5,203,469

Expenses

Clinical Services & Products $ 3,936,893 Administration $ 483,663 Development $ 70,099 TOTAL Expenses $4,490,655

Our donors make it possible for our therapists to map and follow a treatment plan that leads to communication success for patients and families, where before there was helplessness and frustration. Your financial support assures accessibility of our programs for every family who is in need of help, regardless of their ability to pay for services. Our sincere thanks to the following people and organizations who help make our work possible:

Organizations

In Support Children's Services Drama Therapy Program

In Support of the Language and Literacy Program

In Support of Cycles of Security Project

In Support of the Northwest Early Childhood Institute

Organizations