New
Audiology Booth is Up!
The donated audiology booth has been installed.
On July 13, contractors came to the Warren Center and installed
the new booth, which will, when equipped, allow staff audiologists
Amanda Samoluk and Kimberly Starkey to help more clients.
“The new booth will allow us to see clients in a more
timely manner, and reach into the community to promote hearing
health and protection through screenings and educational outreach
programs,” says Starkey.
The expansion of
the audiology program has been made possible so far by the
Warren Center’s faithful donors. For a
complete list of those who have donated to the “Be a
Hearing Aide” campaign, please see our website at http://www.warrencenter.org/hearingaidedonors.html.
For those who still
want to contribute to this worthy cause, the setup of the
new audiology booth doesn’t mean the “Be
a Hearing Aide” program is at an end. The Warren Center
still needs donors to help cover startup and new equipment
costs for the new program.
Voices
to be Heard Yard Sale
Thanks
to the work of our dedicated board, staff and volunteers,
the Warren Center’s Second Annual Voices
to be
Heard
yard sale on May 22 raised over $1400. Hundreds of people
showed up for the yard sale, which was held
in the Center’s parking lot, to look over items donated
by people and businesses in the community.
Voices to be Heard teaches the deaf how to listen
and speak with the aid of an amplification device such as a
hearing aid or cochlear implant.Amy Bragg, lead clinician in
the Voices to be Heard program, was pleased by the turnout.
“This community has always been so supportive
of the center, and the success of the yard sale is just more
proof of that,” she said. “Thank you to everyone
who helped out.”
Voices
to be Heard is the State of Maine’s
first full service auditory/oral program. Last year, nearly
30 clients participated in the program.
Click here for
pictures of this year's yard sale.
ReHAB
Needs Your Help
The
Warren Center for Communication & Learning
wants to provide the gift of hearing for needy people in our
community through the Regional Hearing Aid Bank, but it needs
your help.
The Regional Hearing Aid Bank (ReHAB) provides
refurbished behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids for people who
cannot otherwise afford them. The price of a hearing aid now
starts at around $700.00 and can exceed $4,000.00 for high-end
digital models. For many in need, the cost of even basic hearing
aids is beyond reach. The ReHAB program addresses this community
need by making hearing aids and related support services available
to qualified adults in Eastern and Central Maine.
Warren
Center audiologist Dr. Amanda Samoluk thinks the program
is essential. “Often, those who cannot
afford hearing aids are elderly people who live alone and they
are too embarrassed by their hearing impairment to interact
with other people,” she says.
The
program is dependent upon the donation of used hearing aids.
BTE models are refurbished, and as funds
allow, placed with a needy individual from the Center’s
waiting list. In-the-ear aids, which cannot be re-used, are
sent to a recycling facility and the Center receives a small
monetary credit which goes to help cover costs of the program.
“ It’s nice to see the changes when
people come in for a follow-up,” says Samoluk. “One
recipient told us that he can hear sounds he hasn’t heard
in 20 years. These donations really do make a difference and
have a direct impact on someone’s life.”
Hearing aids can be delivered or mailed to the
Warren Center office at 175 Union Street, Bangor, Maine 04401.
Contact the Warren Center at 941-2850 for more information.
We appreciate your faithfulness to the center.
A Note from
the Program Director. . .
It’s that time of the year again...time to say good-bye
to all of our graduates and their families as they go off to
kindergarten. We will miss you, and don’t forget to use
your best speech at school!!! Carrying over the skills that
have been practiced and polished in the therapy setting to
the classroom setting is sometimes the hardest part of our
jobs as speech-language pathologists. We hope that our students
will use all their skills in all the places that they will
use their speech and language skills. That is only one of the
many reasons that group speech therapy is sometimes a great
option for preschoolers and school-age children alike. Kids
are competitive by nature, and having a friend to practice
with can be very motivating.
Kids do seem to
learn best from other kids, granted sometimes it isn’t
what we as parents or clinicians are hoping that they will
learn (speaking as the mother of the child who
came home on the school bus with a lovely new vocabulary).
Other positive aspects of a speech group are that some of those
classroom manners that can be practiced in a smaller group,
such as turn-taking, good manners, and learning to stay in
your chair until the game or project is finished. It is not
always easy to teach these skills in a large kindergarten classroom
with more students.
We currently have
several groups meeting for speech therapy every day of the
week. We try to do our best to match group
members with similar ages and therapy needs. Individual therapy
certainly has its benefits, but as we are all seeing in the
classroom and the workplace, “group” projects and “teams” are
becoming the norm. It is to all of our advantage to smooth
that transition for preschoolers as well.
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful new school year!!!
MBR
Working
Hard...
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Graham and Alastair Richards, sons of
program director MaryBeth Richards, weed the Warren Center's
flower bed.
Alastair is workin on his gardening merit badge for
Boy Scouts. He is a Second Class Scout and member of
Troop 41 in Hampden. To earn the badge, Alastair must
plant six vegetables and six flowers using both seed
and seedlings and maintain the garden until harvest.
At the Warren Center, Alastair planted a variety of
plants and herbs, including mums, daisies, beans, cilantry
and tansy.
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New
Staff
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Katherine Fraser is a new
speech-language pathologist. She is a graduate of the University
of Maine, with B.A. and M.A. degrees in Communication Sciences
and Disorders. Katherine is in her clinical fellowship
year and works with preschool and school-aged children
at the Warren Center. In addition, she works with preschoolers
at United Cerebral Palsy and with adults at St. Joseph
Hospital. Outside of work, Katherine enjoys golf, kayaking
and rollerblading. She lives in Bangor. |
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Rebecca Pelletier also joins the staff
as a speech-language pathologist. She is a graduate of
the University of Maine, with B.A. and M.A. degrees in
Communication Sciences and Disorders. Rebecca is in her
clinical fellowship year and works with preschool and school-aged
children at the Warren Center. She is a member of the American
Speech-Language Hearing Association. Rebecca lives in Brewer
and likes home improvement projects, cooking and being
outdoors. In addition to working the Warren Center, she's
busy planning a wedding which will take place next summer. |
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Stacey White is a new speech-language
pathologist with the Warren Center. She is a graduate of
the University of Maine, with B.A. and M.A. degrees in
Communication Sciences and Disorders. Stacey is in her
clinical fellowship year and works with preschool, inpatient
and outpatient clients at the Penobscot Valley Hospital
in Lincoln. Stacey spends her time outside of work hanging
out with friends and family, working in her vegetable garden
and bike riding. |
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Peter Cook is
the new public relations manager. Before coming to the
Warren Center, Peter was
a graduate student in the University of Maine’s Department
of Public Administration. His previous jobs include working
for the University’s Department of Public Affairs
and at The Weekly Newspaper in Bangor. He is a member of
the American Society of Public Administration and the Maine
Public Relations Council. Peter lives in Bangor with his
wife, Shannon and in his spare time enjoys music, reading
and juggling. |
New
Website
As you can see, the Warren Center website has
a new look. While you're here, look around for information
on our many programs, a
little history and much more!
Ask
the Audiologists
By Warren Center Audiologists Dr. Amanda Samoluk and
Dr. Kimberly Starkey
In normal conversational settings, my hearing is fine.
However, I really struggle on the phone. What can I do?
Begin by having your hearing tested to rule out any problems. If
hearing aids aren’t needed, you might discuss with your audiologist
various telephone amplification systems. Such systems include in-line
telephone amplifiers, amplified telephones, and clip-on portable
telephone amplifiers.
My audiologist recommended two hearing aids.
Are two hearing aids really better than one?
YES! Listening with both ears not only helps us to localize sounds,
it also helps to tune out background noise and focus in on the desired
signal (speech). When wearing two hearing aids, less volume may be
needed to achieve a comfortable hearing level.
How often should I get a hearing test?
Anyone regularly exposed to hazardous noise should have a hearing
test every year. Those who are not exposed to hazardous noise should
have a hearing test every 3 years. Anyone who notices a change
in his or her hearing should have a test right away.
Good
Luck!
This summer, we said goodbye to two Warren Center
staff members.
Monique Gibouleau has moved to Gary Friedmann
and Associates.
Priscilla Parsons now works for Verizon in
Bangor.
Good luck to both of them in their new jobs!
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