Food Fundraiser

Zoes Kitchen will donate 15% of sales on Thurs. May 20, 2010 to the Children's HEAR Center but you must print a flyer and present it between 2-8 pm at 1830 29th Ave S, Suite 115

If you can't print this one, email Bama Ears and we can send you one via email. Check out the Zoes Kitchen Menu here.

"Toyraiser"

WHEN: Tues May 18 & Wed May 19

9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Children's Hear Center Lobby

WHAT: Visit an extensive display of top-quality educational toys, books, and games from DISCOVERY TOYS. All are designed to help children learn by play.

WHY: These products are not generally available elsewhere and all are unconditionally guaranteed for life! Shop for the children in your life and your purchases will earn FREE Discovery Toys products for the HEAR Center.

Can't attend? You can still participate by viewing the products online and then calling (404 325-8697) or e-mailing your order to DT

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser

Second Annual Charity League Pancake Breakfast

April 24, 2010

8:00-10:30 am

Golden Rule BBQ

744 29th Street South

Birmingham, AL 35233

and

Special Mother's Day Breakfast

Golden Rule BBQ in Lakeview

May 8, 2010

8:00-10:30 am

For more info click here

These events will benefit the Children's HEAR Center

Allie's Ears

Allie passed her newborn screening, but when she was two years old we noticed that her speech was not developing as well as we thought it should. We had her hearing tested just before she turned three. Our family has no history of hearing loss and so we were really not prepared for the news we received. We were shocked to find out that she had profound hearing loss in her right ear and mild to severe loss in her left ear. I will never forget the feeling I had as the audiologist went over the test results. It was so unbelievable. Here was a two-year-old who knew her colors and numbers, but couldn’t hear! Apparently she had been losing her hearing over time without us realizing it. We have been through many tests – including genetics testing – but no cause has been found for the hearing loss. The first two questions that we had - why and when - will probably never be answered. We moved right on to the next question - what now??

She was aided right away in her left ear and we went right to work in speech therapy at the HEAR center. We knew nothing about the process and what lay ahead for our family. Just when she had started to finally show some progress in her speech, she lost the rest of her hearing. We felt like the rug had been pulled out from under us again, but she was then a candidate for cochlear implants. She received bilateral implants on January 4, 2010 just after her fourth birthday and was activated just nine days later. The look on her face at her activation when she could hear again was priceless!

Allie now attends the Alabama School for Hearing and is showing great progress. She started turning to her name just weeks after her activation – locating sound is something she could never do with only one good ear before. She has even starting running to get the phone when it rings!

Our journey began only 18 months ago, but what a roller coaster it has been!  I didn’t know what a cochlear implant even was before. We didn’t know any families dealing with this or where to turn for information. We are grateful for the support we have received. We have a strong Christian faith so we have always known that God had a plan for Allie’s life. It has taken some turns we were not expecting, but we are looking forward to watching it unfold!

Hear more about Allie from her story featured on the Alabama School for the Hearing video

Written by Natalie, Allie's mom

PEEPs

Alabama has a new parent mentoring program for families with children who have hearing loss. It's called PEEPs, Parents Educating & Encouraging Parents. A team of five Parent Mentors will volunteer to work directly with professionals, from Teachers of the Deaf, Early Intervention, speech therapists, doctors, anyone who works with children who have a hearing loss, gathering current and useful information from these sources and serve as an additional support to the families these professionals service. Parent Mentors will connect families with other dedicated Alabama volunteers as well, who guide new families and offer additional support. You can find out more about the PEEPs Program at The Children's HEAR Center or at our blog Alabama PEEPs.

Although the PEEPs program is currently housed at The HEAR Center we are not limited to its patient base. We are a parent group and can service all families in Alabama who can benefit from our mentors. Professionals give PEEPs no patient information. Instead families are offered ways to contact the mentors for support through email and our website.