Dear Friends:

As you know, Lexington Hearing & Speech Center has provided 50 years of amazing accomplishments and sound beginnings in Central Kentucky. Recognizing that effective communication skills are key to every aspect of our lives, LHSC has never wavered from our original mission of teaching children to listen and talk.

Since 1960, LHSC has worked diligently to change the lives of children with hearing, speech and language delays by providing each of them with the educational, therapeutic and family support services they needed to achieve their own communication goals. Now, as we wrap up a year-long celebration of our golden anniversary, the staff and board are already working to ensure that our next 50 years is as productive as our first!

But we can’t do it without you; our Central Kentucky friends and neighbors. It is your support that made it possible for the Lexington Deaf Oral School to evolve into the Lexington Hearing & Speech Center and to grow our campus on North Ashland Ave. And it is your support that will make it possible for LHSC to grow again and move to our new home at 350 Henry Clay Blvd.

With your help, LHSC will open its doors in the Summer of 2011 to more children than ever before. Because of you, we will be able to continue serving the diverse communication needs of children from across the Commonwealth with hearing, speech, and language delays or disorders.

No gift is too small to make a difference in the life of child, so I thank you in advance for your support and for creating sound beginnings that last a lifetime.

For your convenience, here is our Capital Campaign Pledge Form.

With sincere appreciation,

King Offutt

Lexington Hearing & Speech Center (LHSC) has made a bid for a new home. LHSC, which has been a staple of Central Kentucky’s nonprofit community since it was founded in 1960, began as a preschool to teach children with hearing impairments to listen and talk. Today, after fifty years of service to the community and programmatic evolution, LHSC’s therapeutic preschool, clinical and day care programs are renowned and LHSC is a statewide leader in serving children with communication delays and disorders.

LHSC’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, Executive Committee and key members of the staff began the process of thoroughly researching the physical condition of the Center’s buildings and programmatic needs more than a year ago and determined a new building would be the most cost-effective way to provide an environment capable of delivering the highest quality programming for LHSC students and their families for years to come.

With your help, LHSC is purchasing the 70,600 square foot facility at 350 Henry Clay Boulevard for $1.6 million and will then invest an additional $750,000 updating the buildings to create an optimum environment for children with a variety of speech and language delays and disorders.

Size matters
One of the most important aspects of LHSC’s new home will be the increased space. Currently the size of the buildings on N. Ashland Avenue dictate the number of programs that can be offered and severely limits the number of students that can be served. In the new building, not only will the current programming for children with hearing, speech and language impairments be expanded more than 37% percent but the additional space will also allow LHSC to create several new and enhanced programs, such as a preschool curriculum specifically for autistic children, a parent’s day out program and a communication curriculum based summer program.

In order for LHSC to realize this dream and minimize the debt burden on the school’s operating budget, we will have to raise as much of the $2.35 million project cost as possible. Thanks to President Clinton’s visit and commitments from families and friends of the Center, LHSC has raised $350,000 thus far.

LHSC plans to begin work on the building renovations at the beginning of 2011 and has targeted move-in date of mid-year. The capital campaign will continue throughout the coming year or until the Center reaches its goal.

Our Mission
Lexington Hearing & Speech Center teaches children with hearing, speech and language impairments to listen and talk by providing them with high quality educational, therapeutic, and family support services.

Our goal is for all children to enter kindergarten or first grade with age appropriate communication skills. We strive to ensure LHSC students have the necessary language and independence to become active participants in their families and communities.

The professionals at Lexington Hearing and Speech Center adhere to the philosophy that each child deserves to be treated as an individual with unique strengths and needs. We advocate early identification of those needs and early intervention to encourage development of audition, speech, and language. Focusing on the whole child, we provide a stimulating environment that builds on each child’s individual abilities. We believe each child can and will develop effective oral communication skills.

LHSC Educational Program
LHSC is a state licensed and state approved preschool vendor, which offers programming for hearing impaired, speech/language delayed and community children, ages 3-5 years. Language enriched classroom activities, Individualized Educational Plans and parental involvement all come together to provide a positive and productive learning experience.

On-site audiological services are an essential component of our educational programming. These services include daily checks of hearing aids and cochlear implant functioning, monthly checks of middle ear functioning via tympanograms, continual monitoring of the child’s hearing and adjustment of hearing aids, and provision of amplification equipment as needed. Both individual and classroom FM systems are also used to obtain maximum acoustic benefit.

LHSC Day School
Lexington Hearing & Speech Center also provides a safe and appropriate early childhood environment in a state approved and STARS rated child care facility. Our day school, which operates year round, serves infant through age three using the same collaborative approach as the clinic and preschool.

Children with hearing impairments and speech/language delays are the primary focus of LHSC Day School Curriculum but we welcome all children knowing that everyone will benefit from the diversity of a combined inclusive class setting.

LHSC Clinical Programming

Hearing Services

• Hearing Evaluations & Hearing Aid Fittings
• Hearing Aids
• Preschool & Kindergarten Programs
• Early Intervention (0-3 years)
• Parent Education & Support
• Cochlear Implant Programming & Assessment
• Aural (Re)Habilitation: Auditory-Verbal, Auditory-Oral Therapy, & Auditory Therapy
• Listening Technology

• Speech/Language Screenings
• Speech/Language Evaluations
• Speech/Language Therapy
• Parent Education
• Early Intervention and Social Playgroups (0-3 years)
• Language Enriched, Therapeutic Preschool/Kindergarten