For over 75 years May has been designated Better Hearing and Speech Month – a time to raise public awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the various forms of communication impairments to include those of hearing, speech, language and voice. Communication impairments affect the most vulnerable in our society – the young, the aged, the disabled and the poor.

Speech and language disorders can take many forms and can limit academic achievement, social adjustment and career advancement. An individual may be born with a speech or language disorder, or it may be caused by accidental injury or illness.

No matter how an individual comes to the disorder it can often be treated through a combination of hearing assisting devices and speech therapy. Even if the problem cannot be eliminated, we can teach people with speech and language problems strategies to help them cope. People may not fully regain their capacity to speak and understand, but speech-language pathologists can help them live more independently.

Here, at the Warren Center, we are celebrating Better Hearing and Speech Month through speech screenings at area preschools. This effort is to help identify students with needs before they start kindergarten. A speech and language screening involves quick tests to assess general adequacy of various skills. Results are presented in terms of “student tested within normal range” or “student tested below normal range” and “recommendations” for the individual. Identifying speech and language needs early and providing remediation can help prevent issues later in the classroom.

The center is also holding its seventh annual yard sale. The sale helps support the center’s Voices to Be Heard program, which teaches the deaf and hard of hearing to speak. Money raised go to purchase classroom items, including tests and other materials. This year funds also support our new “All Ears” Preschool which will support 3- and 4-year-olds with hearing difficulties. This new program fills a gap in local programming. Currently, students with these concerns travel to Waterville for similar services.

Helen Keller once noted that of all her impairments, she was perhaps troubled most by her lack of speech and hearing. She elaborated that while blindness separated her from her things, her lack of speech and hearing separated her from people – the human connection of communication. Help us continue to provide services to those in need by donating to the center.

Mary Poulin is the administrative director of the Warren Center for Communication and Learning in Bangor, which provides evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to children adn adults in eastern and central Maine.