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The Warren Center for Communication & Learning is Bangor Maine’s oldest not for profit, professional speech and hearing center and is the largest center of its kind in the area. The Center has worked to fulfill its mission of "providing evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to the children and adults of Eastern and Central Maine" since its foundation in the Bangor community. The Warren Center was founded by the Junior League of Bangor in 1961 as the Bangor Regional Speech and Hearing Center after a measles epidemic hit Central Maine in the 1950’s, leaving many children deaf or with significant hearing impairments. The Center has expanded its services from primarily helping hearing and speech problems of the very young to offering services and support for people of all ages. The Warren Center is a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Maine. It is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors comprised of 12 to 18 community leaders who serve renewable three-year terms.
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Complete Hearing Aid Services Audiological Hearing Evaluation Central Auditory Processing Assessment For additional information about audiology, e-mail Dr. Amanda Samoluk at asamoluk@warrencenter.org. To schedule an appointment, you may e-mail us at info@warrencenter.org or call the Warren Center at 941-2850. Regional Hearing Aid Bank (ReHAB) The Regional Hearing Aid Bank, ReHAB for short, is designed to provide hearing aids to those members of our community who are unable to afford them. It utilizes donated behind-the-ear hearing aids which can be refurbished and reprogrammed for use by another person. The ReHAB program is designed particularly for members of the community who are unable to be served by the Veterans' Administration, Vocational Rehabilitation program, insurances or other third-party providers and whose annual income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level. There is an application process and a waiting list for these services. Applications are available by calling the Warren Center at 941-2850 or may be picked up at the Warren Center office at 175 Union Street, Bangor. Donations of hearing aids to benefit the ReHAB program are always accepted. Behind-the-ear hearing aids of all makes and models are those used for refurbishment and placement. In-the-ear hearing aids are recycled and the proceeds are then used to help with the costs of refurbishing the BTE hearing aids. Hearing aids may be dropped off or mailed to the Warren Center office at 175 Union Street, Bangor, Maine 04401. Diagnosis and Treatment of Speech and Language Disorders * articulation
disorders,
such as the omission, substitution or distortion of speech sounds rendering
speech difficult to understand,
or affecting
a person’s acceptance in society Group Speech Therapy for Children For more information on speech programs, please e-mail Program Director MaryBeth B. Richards at mbrichards@warrencenter.org. If you would like more information on speech-language therapy and whether your child may need it, visit our information page. Audiological Hearing Evaluation Evaluations include a number of specialized tests for infants, children and adults which assess hearing ability and type of loss. Complete Hearing Aid Services Hearing aid consultations are also available, at no cost, for those who are trying to find the best hearing aid for their type of hearing loss. The Warren Center offers a 30-day trial period and a two-year warranty with any new hearing aid. Hearing aid repairs and servicing are available for most makes and models. For additional information about hearing aids or audiology, e-mail Dr. Amanda Samoluk at asamoluk@warrencenter.org or Dr. Kim Starkey at kstarkey@warrencenter.org. If you would like to set an appointment for a hearing evaluation, you may e-mail info@warrencenter.org or call the Center at 941-2850. Visit our "Do you need a hearing test?" page for more information. In its most basic explanation, the Warren Center Voices to be Heard program teaches deaf and hard of hearing individuals how to listen - and speak. Children and adults who are part of this program are taught by a speech-language pathologist who is specially trained to help the hearing impaired or deaf make the most of their residual hearing or cochlear implant for oral communication. Those in the Voices program may be profoundly deaf, using a cochlear implant to hear, or they may use amplification such as hearing aids or an FM system. As such, this program is often closely linked with services of an audiologist, who assists in making the most of residual hearing in those with hearing loss. The Warren Center's Voices program offers those who are hard of hearing a life of full interaction and communication with the hearing world. Besides hosting the only such program in central, eastern or northern Maine, the Warren Center also is the area's only cochlear implant programming/mapping facility and one of three in New England. The others are located in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. To contact Amy Bragg regarding the Voices program, please e-mail abragg@warrencenter.org with "Voices" included in the subject line or call the Warren Center at 941-2850. The Pragmatic Skills Group is designed to teach social skills to those with Asperger’s, increasing their social and educational success. This group will be targeted at teenagers in the age range of middle school to high school (approximately 11 to 16) who have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. People with Asperger's have trouble with nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye contact, facial expression, body postures and gestures. They have a difficulty or inability to develop peer relationships appropriate to their developmental level and lack emotional or social reciprocity. Due to these symptoms, youth with Asperger's tend to be socially withdrawn and ostracized by their peers, which can lead to greater rates of depression and suicide among the population. The most important part of the educational curriculum for those with Asperger's is the need to enhance communication and social competence. The social pragmatic group will not attempt to stifle individualism or uniqueness, but is intended to prepare those young people with Asperger's to cope with social and interpersonal expectations, which will enhance their ability to form friendships.
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New Staff at the Warren Center for Communication & Learning Audiologist Alison Settele, M.S.P.A., CCC-A Alison Settele joins the Warren Center as its newest Audiologist. She earned a BS degreee in Speech Correction from East Stroudsburgh University in 1981 and earned a masters of Speech Pathology and Audiology degree from Hahnemann Unitersty in Philadelphia, PA in 1983. She is certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is licensed as an Audiologist, Hearing Aid Dealer and Fitter in Maine.She is a 20 year veteran of audiology. As a military spouse, she has worked many places are around the US and the world including Japan, California, and Italy. She most recently worked for Eastern Maine Medical Center in their audiology department. Alison’s addition to the staff will decrease the wait time many clients currently have to receive services. She has experience in comprehensive diagnostic audiological evaluations for pediatrics to geriatrics, hearing aid dispensing, balance testing battery, assistive listening devices, educational audiological consulting, industrial hearing conservation, and custom noise and swim protection. Alison has three children and lives with her husband in Holden. Office Assistant Milt Blake Milt Blake is the Warren Centter's new Office Assistant. . Milt assists both in audiology and speech services setting up appointments, and maintaining files. He is a graduate of Searsport Dist High, and went through basic training for the United States Air Force after graduation in 1987. After basic Milt trained to work on F-4 and B-52 aircraft. In 1996 he cross trained to become and Air Force medic. He retired from active duty in August 2007. After retiring from the military he wanted to move back home to Maine, and moved to Hampden close to other family members. He loves the outdoors and enjoy snowboarding, hiking and camping. Overcoming Communication Disorders Leads to Productive
Adulthood Bangor, Maine –The Preschool Early Language Development Program at the Warren Center for Communication & Learning has received a grant of $25,000 from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. The
program exists to help children aged birth through five who have communication
disorders. The goal is to help children overcome diagnosed speech communication
disorders in the critical period of their early development so that they
may enter the public schools ready to learn without the need
for further speech
therapy.
The Preschool Early Language Development Program at the Warren Center is
staffed by professional speech-language pathologists who have graduate
degrees and
are certified by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.
They also must hold a clinical license issued by the State of Maine. Each
child
we serve is given a complete clinical evaluation and, when therapy is necessary,
a remediation plan is developed and treatment is undertaken. Every effort is made to see children in their natural environment of preschool or daycare. The speech language pathologist works closely with the parent or guardian of each client to involve the family in carryover of goals and objectives. Families are encouraged to spend time reading and interacting with their children outside of speech language therapy. The presence of the speech-language pathologists in the preschool and daycare settings has proven beneficial not only to the children receiving Early Language Development services, but also to the other students and staff at these HeadStart and preschool classrooms. Early language learning is added to the quality of these programs without added cost to the preschool. This program depends on the collaboration between the Warren Center and many other agencies in the greater Bangor area. Hearing
Made Available to Those in Need Bangor, Maine – Forty people of the 100 people on the waiting list at the Warren Center for Communication & Learning’s Regional Hearing Aid Bank (ReHAB) won’t have to wait much longer. They are getting hearing aids thanks to a grant by the Davis Family Foundation of Falmouth, Maine. The Davis Family Foundation said in their letter to the Warren Center, that “we share your enthusiasm for this project and hope our gift will contribute to its success.” The realization of the program is dependent upon the donations of funds and hearing aids by members of the community. The generous gift of $20,000 from the Davis Family Foundation will allow the Warren Center’s five year waiting list to be whittled down to two years. This means that, although we will be able to serve many members of our community, still others will continue to wait to receive a hearing aid from the ReHAB program. Those who wish may contribute monetary donations or hearing aids to the program to help those in need.
The ReHAB program addresses community needs by making hearing aids
and related support services available to qualified adults in
Penobscot, Piscataquis,
Hancock, Waldo and Washington counties. Each qualified participant
receives a complete
hearing evaluation to determine if a hearing loss exists and
specific hearing testing to see whether or not a hearing aid will
be of any
benefit. If it
is determined that a hearing aid would be beneficial, the participant
is supplied
with either a new or reconditioned behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing
aid. All costs associated with the hearing aid including the testing,
manufacture of ear molds,
fitting the aid and the aids themselves will be covered by the
ReHAB
program.
The program also provides full repair coverage for one year,
batteries for the hearing aid and a “dri-aid” maintenance
kit to help keep the aid in good working order. The grant monies will go to refurbishing donated hearing aids, the manufacture of the ear molds and the warranties and services provided totals $500 per participant in the program. We currently have a two year waiting for applicants, many of whom are over eighty years of age at the time of their application. Maine Lion's Sight and Hearing Association Donates $1,500 Bangor, Maine- The Maine Lion's Sight and Hearing Association donated monies to the Regional Hearing Aid Bank Program. This is the first time in the program's history that they have received money from the this organization. The Lions Club International makes grants for vital community grants for projects that meet a a wide range of humanitarian needs. Warren Center Receives $6,229 for New OAE Test System BANGOR, ME – The Warren Center is the recipient of a $6,229 grant from JTG Foundation to replace their Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Test System. The new OAE Test System is a fast, automatic handheld instrument for testing newborn babies, children and adults. Several test protocols are available. Actual test results along with a pass or refer indication are available on the display as well as in print from a thermal printer. The user has a choice of three different lengths of cable from the unit to the probe, providing great flexibility to accommodate a variety of testing situations. The system which was replaced is outdated and used a laptop computer with a 1995 operating system. Although the system “worked” it sometimes provided false negatives which lead to unreliable testing. An OAE device is used with clients who are mentally or physically unable to communicate with the audiologist adequately to use the audiometer. It is utilized, often, as a follow-up for newborn screenings. As you know, babies who can “fail” testing at birth may turn out to have normal hearing, while a baby who “passes” screening at birth can later turn out to having a hearing loss. That is why it is important for new parents to bring their babies back for follow-up hearing testing using a reliable OAE Test System.
Everyone in our community should be able to communicate to the
best of their ability. Communication enhances quality of life
for the individuals
we serve
and benefits the community as a whole. For this reason the Center is
pleased to be the recipient of a grant for $6,229.60 for a new Otoacoustic
Emissions
Test System. Warren Center Receives $7,550 for New Audiometer from MeHAF BANGOR, ME – The Warren Center is the recipient of a $7,550 grant from Maine Health Access Foundation to replace an aging audiometer. In 1996, The Warren Center purchased their current Grayson Statler audiometer second hand. This equipment is in use on a daily basis and is a diagnostic tool that allows our doctors of audiology to determine whether an individual is in need of a hearing aid or other hearing related services. It is housed in our only handicap accessible booth and provides space for a wheelchair and assistant. “The current audiometer,” says Warren Center Clinical Director Dr. Amanda Samoluk, “although often quite functional was cutting in and out. We would often have to reboot it several times a day. It was making unpredictable static and beeping noises that were unrelated to the testing. It truly is on its "last leg". “
The Warren Center’s Administrative Director Mary Poulin says, “that
we are grateful to the Maine Health Access Foundation for their donation to
purchase the new audiometer. It is an essential piece of equipment. Without
it we can not do our job.” The center reaches out, not only to neighboring counties, but statewide to provide free hearing aids for those who qualify through our Regional Hearing Aid Bank Program. During the current fiscal year we have already provided free hearing aids to 33 residents. Since its inception in 2002, 117 ReHAB recipients have received a hearing aid through the program. Program participants are not charged for the program, but donations are accepted. Currently, residents from Eagle Lake to South Portland are waiting for a hearing aid from the program.
Dr. Samoluk says that the new audiometer “will enable us to provide continuous
care to all of our new and existing patients. With the threat of equipment
breakdown looming over our heads we had the potential for canceling many patients
and would have been able to only use one of our audiology booths. The breakdown
of an audiometer would have decreased our capacity to service our patients
by half.” |
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