Summit Speech School

The Summit Speech School is a year-round[5] educational institution based in New Providence, Union County, New Jersey, United States, which assists children in northern and central New Jersey who have difficulty hearing.[6][7] The school uses an approach which has been described variously as an oral-option[8] or auditory-oral[6] or auditory-aural[9] method, in the sense that the program helps children "to listen and talk without the use of sign language".[3] The school receives funding from various sources,[3][10][11][12] including the Junior League of Summit[13] and the State of New Jersey.[5] It hosts benefits to raise funds.[14][15] According to a report in 2010, fund-raising is on-going and ranges from $800,000 to $1 million a year.[5] It has been assisted in the past by volunteers.[16][17] An introduction to music had been provided by renowned educator Capitola Dickerson for thirty years.[18]

Summit Speech School
Location
New Providence, NJ, USA[1][2]
Information
Established1967[3]
PrincipalHoward Helfman[4]
Staff50[5]
Number of students130;[6] 180;[5] 200;[3]
(estimates vary)
Websitewww.summitspeech.org
The building was converted from industrial space and has high ceilings, wide corridors and a spacious environment.
The open half-donut seating arrangement improves chances for communication between a teacher and several students.

History

The Summit Speech School was formed in 1967 with assistance from the Junior League and with efforts by volunteers such as Diane Hunt Lawrence.[19] The first building was located near Overlook Hospital.[5] In the nineteen eighties, pediatrician Arthur F. Ackerman was president.[20] The school moved to its present facility in New Providence in 1997 into a former warehouse.[21] Since 1997, according to one report, the building has been owned by the borough of New Providence.[5] In 2008, New Jersey was on the verge of passing Grace's Law, which requires health insurers to pay up to $1,000 per ear for hearing aids for children younger than fifteen years old, and the law was named for a former hearing-impaired student of the Summit Speech School named Grace.[22] In 2009, volunteers including Betse Gump helped set up libraries for the children at the school.[23] In 2010, the school was visited by Mary Pat Christie, the First Lady of New Jersey and wife of Governor Chris Christie.[5]

Programs

Most children served by the school have severe hearing loss which can hamper their ability to comprehend speech in any environment with substantial background noise.[9] Director Pamela Paskowitz said that the school tries to help particularly young children by teaching them to speak "clearly and often" and to use devices such as cochlear implants.[5] According to a previous director:

The natural reaction of a parent hearing that the child is deaf is to stop talking to the baby, and that's the very worst thing they can do. At that point they need to just pour language into that child. But they need somebody to help them realize that the child must wear his hearing aids or he's not getting any of the language that they're putting into him.

— Ann Buckley, Summit Speech School, 1992[9]

The school offers several programs which vary based on the age of the child:

  1. Parent-infant program to help parents of children under age three.[3][5][9][11]
  2. Classroom instruction for children from ages three to six years old[5][9] which alternates between "small group language lessons and large group activities".[5]
  3. For older children, teachers of the deaf work with students and classroom teachers at approximately forty New Jersey schools.[5]
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References
  1. "Summit Speech School speaker discusses interior design in cinema". Independent Press. March 4, 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  2. Barbara Rybolt (April 20, 2009). "Around the Towns for the week of April 22: Speech School alumni reunite". Independent Press. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  3. "Summit Speech School gets donation". Independent Press. December 16, 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  4. "Summit Speech School Staff". Summit Speech School website. 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  5. Liz Keill (July 7, 2010). "Governor's wife, Mary Pat Christie, visits Speech School in New Providence". Independent Press. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  6. "About Summit Speech School". Summit Speech School website. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2012-07-19. (from the website:) It is the mission of Summit Speech School to enable children who are deaf or hard of hearing to take their place in a hearing world by providing superior educational and therapeutic support services through an auditory/oral program.
  7. "Stephen W. Theriot joins Summit Speech School Board of Trustees". Independent Press. January 31, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  8. Independent Press. February 10, 2011 http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2011/02/summit_speech_school_spring_be_1.html. Retrieved 2012-07-21. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. Susan Stock, New York Times News Service (October 1, 1992). "For The Deaf, A World Of Speech". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  10. "Deaths SAYLES, THOMAS D." The New York Times. May 17, 2004. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  11. "Summit foundation awards $100K to help people with special needs". Independent Press. February 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  12. "Summit Area Public Foundation awards grant to Summit Speech School". Independent Press. February 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  13. "Junior League Summit awards $40,000 in Community Grants". Independent Press. August 19, 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  14. "Summit Speech School hosts 22nd annual spring benefit". Independent Press. February 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  15. "Summit Speech School Spring Benefit presents Lloyd Boston, America's favorite style guy, April 28". Independent Press. March 1, 2009. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  16. "Peapack-Gladstone Bank announces new wealth management employees". Messenger-Gazette. June 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  17. "Prudence L. Waldmann". Star-Ledger. July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  18. "Capitola "Cappie" Dickerson". Star-Ledger. June 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  19. "Obituaries: Diane Hunt Lawrence, conservationist, hiker, golfer, has died". Independent Press. January 26, 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  20. "Arthur F. Ackerman, Pediatrician, Dies at 85". The New York Times. August 25, 1989. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  21. ANTOINETTE MARTIN (May 19, 2002). "In the Region/New Jersey; Converting Industrial Spaces Into School Buildings". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  22. Mike Frassinelli (December 30, 2008). "Codey plans to sign law requiring insurers to pay for kids' hearing aids". Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  23. "Summit's Betse Gump earns United Way's highest honors". Independent Press. October 2, 2009. Retrieved 2012-07-19.

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