Founded in 1927 as the Portland Lip Reading club by two noted teachers of the deaf, the Hearing & Speech Institute is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization governed by a Board of Directors.

While much of the work of the Institute has traditionally focused on rehabilitation of people with specific clinical needs, our work is always accomplished in the context of that which makes us distinctly human - relationships - with a focus on all communication, both emotional and cognitive.

Hearing Health Services: The Institute's hearing health program provides professional compassionate audiologic care to enhance communication ability, strengthen interpersonal relationships and enrich quality of life for people of all ages. Through these services we envision a community in which no person suffers the loss of personal relationships and emotional connections.

Services for Children and Families: We envision a community where every child has a chance to grow up strong and resilient and where all families are supported to help their children thrive throughout their lives.

Developmental Home: The Institute provides specialized team-based developmental care focused on diagnosis and intensive treatment of developmental disabilities that affect a child's developmental health. Developmental/behavioral pediatrics provides 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. Our rehabilitation services include speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, pediatric audiology, clinical psychology, and counseling. Neuropsychologists provide in depth assessments to aid in effective diagnosis and treatment planning. The entire team works together with the family to identify and amplify their child's special abilities - their "spark of brilliance."

Detection of developmental issues indicates the need for intervention. This comes at multiple levels ranging from tips from the primary care pediatrician to full intervention strategies for children and families experiencing more intense difficulties. In these cases, intervention and management may require team-based care with collaboration by and among the multiple systems that touch families of infants and young children. These might include but are not limited to medical, mental health, rehabilitation and early intervention systems, child care settings and home visiting programs, legal and family court systems, all in partnership with parents and caregivers. We accomplish this through the identification of intervention strategies through ongoing assessment and case management, engaging with families to provide services that include not just support, education and intervention, but also developmental surveillance, screening, monitoring and referral. It is this collaborative and team-based role that we have come to call the Developmental Home.

Community Change: The Institute is equally committed to act as a catalyst in the community to raise the standard of developmental health for all children. Developmental health starts at the beginning of life for all children. Assuring optimal development requires a robust early detection and prevention system to quickly identify developmental tragectories that require intervention. The Institute has set a goal for strengthening such a system, primarily focused on the primary care pediatrics office, a place that is accessed by the majority of children in the first years of life. In addition, the Institute acts to facilitate the bringing together of the multiple systems, such as child care, schools and other public programs, that impact children and families to assure the best outcomes for children's development. In addition, the Institute is committed to facilitating the implementation of the Developmental Home model in the community through consultation and partnerships with public and private individuals and institutions.

The process of promoting developmental assurance also requires a focus on professional training, collaboration, research promotion, and the introduction of new scientific knowledge about child development to the community. Using an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, the Institute blends the different perspectives of medicine, mental health, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, child development, early childhood education, and social services for young children and families in clinical and community presentations and seminars, as well as ongoing professional study groups.

Our clinicians hold either masters or doctorate degrees and have advanced specialized training in their given fields, which include speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, developmental/behavioral pediatrics, neuro-psychology, clinical psychology, family therapy and audiology. All clinicians regularly participate in continuing education opportunities and are knowledgeable about the latest advances in their fields. The Institute is a teaching facility that frequently provides practicum and fellowship experiences for graduate and medical students.

Our offices are located in Portland, Oregon. Funding to support the services of the Institute comes from a variety of sources, including fees for service, contributions from individuals and corporations, foundation grants and fundraising events.