Child's Voice Continues Partnership with Israel's Beit Micha

A transatlantic partnership between two organizations devoted to helping children with hearing loss continued in July with the goal of sharing best practices and research. Child’s Voice hosted staff members from Beit Micha, a listening and spoken language school for children with hearing loss in Tel Aviv, in July. Six staff members, including Executive Director Roi Pilpel, attended.

The visit is part of an ongoing exchange. Several Child’s Voice staff members flew to Tel Aviv last January for professional sharing and educational seminars with Beit Micha.

“After seeing this amazing program that serves 750 families a year, we saw how Child’s Voice could collaborate with them,” said Child’s Voice Executive Director Dr. Michele Wilkins.

Beit Micha’s mission is to provide each hard-of-hearing child with the tools to acquire communication, language and speech skills and to give each child an equal opportunity to develop his or her potential and fully integrate into society. The Child’s Voice mission is to empower children with hearing loss to be successful in all educational and social setting by optimizing their listening, speaking and academic skills.

“Our goals are the same,” notes Dr. Wilkins. “We both change lives. What a wonderful partnership to have with a program on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!”

The combined staffs visited some of the most renowned hearing and audiology experts in the country right here in Chicago. Dr. Nancy Young, Otolaryngologist and implant surgeon at Lurie Children’s Hospital, allowed the group to observe an implant surgery. Then she presented two of her latest research projects.

At Northwestern University, Dr. Tina Grieco-Calub, Assistant Professor in the Communication Science and Disorders department, scheduled an entire day of experiences, including visiting four labs conducting research on topics including auditory processing and early intervention/parent coaching. Department Chair Dr. Sumit Dhar and Dr. Mindy Kobara-Mates from the Northwestern Speech Clinic shared current research.

Child’s Voice hosted the group for the next two days at both their Wood Dale and Roscoe Village locations.

“The Beit Micha group observed how we do things and met parents in the toddler group in Chicago. Wendy Deters, our Professional Development Coordinator, set up a parent panel and had it recorded for our podcast All Ears at Child’s Voice,” Dr. Wilkins said.

After the visit in Roscoe Village, Early Intervention Director Rollen Cooper took the group to Lurie Children’s Hospital where Dr. Denise Thomas, Cochlear Implant Coordinator, and Jen Haney, Family Education Liaison, gave a number of presentations to the group.

Dr. Wilkins said the results of this collaboration will appear in publications, including an article describing how to establish an international relationship.

“It was a spectacular week of learning and sharing,” Dr. Wilkins said.

About Child’s Voice

Child’s Voice helps children with hearing loss learn to listen and to speak. Students wear hearing aids and/or cochlear implants and programs use a child-focused, research-based curriculum, all with the end goal of transitioning graduates back to their neighborhood schools. The Child’s Voice program also includes early intervention services and audiology testing and support. At its two locations in Wood Dale and the Roscoe Village neighborhood in Chicago, Child’s Voice serves nearly 400 children and their families each year.

Visit us and find more information at www.childsvoice.org. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @Childs_Voice, on Instagram @Childs_Voice, and on LinkedIn and YouTube, and please use #SmileyCV.