Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
If your child has a hearing impairment, use the "Sounds of Dreams" program. It offers comprehensive, multi-stage assistance to deaf children from families in a difficult social or economic situation.
World epidemiological data show that 2 - 3 in 1000babiesare born with profoundhearing lossper year, and others may be suspected of having moderate or unilateral damagehearing loss . The research of the Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy Foundation shows that in Poland about 600 children are born with a defect each year. All of them require specialist rehabilitation in order to be able to function in society on an equal footing with their hearing peers in the future. In response to their needs, in 2006 the Orange Foundation (then the TP Group Foundation) launched a special program called "Sounds of Dreams".
This unique program on a European scale covers children with hearing impairment aged 0-3 years, i.e. in the so-called golden period of speech development, as well as in the case of combined disability of children up to 6 years of age, when the chance for hearing and speech rehabilitation is the greatest.
The program's task is primarily to equip the youngest children with hearing aids from the moment of diagnosing a hearing impairment and providing them with early rehabilitation, as well as raising social awareness of the developmental needs and the importance of early therapy in young children.
Goals of the "Sounds of Dreams" program:
- running Hearing Aid Banks located in medical facilities throughout Poland, which deal with adjusting hearing aids to the needs of young children and lending them free of charge to children
- free home rehabilitation of young children whose systematic therapy in specialized institutions is difficult or impossible for various reasons
- running free summer rehabilitation stays to improve the hearing functions of hearing-impaired children and to support their parents
- providing training for specialists in the field of hearing and speech therapy and equipping them with educational aids needed for rehabilitation
- increasing the level of knowledge and competences of parents of hearing impaired children
- popularizing issues related to the problem of hearing impairment in children in society
Every year, the program is used by over 1,000 people a year: children, parents and specialists.