Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing:  Program Overview

from Practice Update, Fall 2005

The Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing is a newly funded multidisciplinary center designed to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, children and adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Through the generous support of the Daniels Fund, The Children’s Hospital will expand and enhance existing services for children and families.

The Center is Unique and the Preferred Choice for Providers and Parent

• We have more than 40 years of experience providing services to deaf and hard-of-hearing children
• As a program of The Children’s Hospital, we care exclusively for kids; all services are provided by pediatric experts
• Services are delivered in locations convenient to families at Children’s Care Centers throughout the metro Denver , as well as at the hospital’s downtown campus
• Multidisciplinary care including audiology, pediatric otolaryngology, speech-language pathology, deaf education, clinical genetics and clinical social work
• We work in partnership with primary care providers to coordinate clinical care and services

The support of the Daniels Fund will allow expansion of clinical care programs throughout the metro area as well as bring state of the art, technologically-advanced clinical facilities in audiology, speech-language pathology and pediatric otolaryngology to The new Children’s Hospital on the Fitzsimons campus.  

Services Provided By the Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing

All services are provided by a multidisciplinary team including audiologists, clinical social workers, deaf educators, pediatric otolaryngologists and speech-language pathologists.

Audiology

Evaluation and management of childhood hearing loss

• Follow-up evaluations for infants referred from newborn hearing screening
• Behavioral and physiologic assessment of hearing sensitivity
• Auditory rehabilitation including hearing aid evaluation, fitting and dispensing
• Cochlear implant mapping

Pediatric Otolaryngology (ENT)

Medical diagnosis and surgical management of childhood hearing loss

• Evaluation to determine the etiology of hearing loss
• Cochlear implantation
• Referral to other medical specialists Clinical Social Work
• Identification and coordination of family needs and resources
• Parent counseling, education and support

Deaf Education

Support for transitions into preschool/school programs

Genetic Counseling and Evaluation

Parent Education Center

Speech-Language Services

Speech and language therapy addressing the child’s specific strengths, needs and the family’s communication choices

• Aural-oral speech therapy
• Total communication
• Parent-Infant and Parent-Toddler Groups
• Social Skills Groups

Kenny Chan, MD, Chairman of Pediatric Otolaryngology, The Children’s Hospital and Professor, Otolaryngology, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center

Deborah Hayes, PhD,Chairman of Audiology, Speech Pathology and Learning Services, The Children’s Hospital, and Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Pediatrics, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center

Insurance Benefits/Payment Options

The Center accepts insurance plans contracted with The Children’s Hospital as well as state entitlement programs (e.g., Medicaid; Colorado Access, CHP+). For children without medical insurance who are not eligible for state assistance, limited funding is available for services at the Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing.