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Center in Leesburg helps county's hearing-impaired
ROXANNE BROWN Staff Writer
LEESBURG — As the only center of its kind in the area, the Deaf and Hearing Services of Lake and Sumter Counties has its work cut out for it with more than 42,000 people in the two counties who are deaf or significantly hard of hearing. The center offers an array of services and equipment to help those whose hearing is not quite up to par.

“There are charities and there are charities, but if we didn’t exist, our clients would have nowhere else to go,” said Kimberly House, the center’s executive director. “And as for the obstacles our clients face on a daily basis, they are truly great and have the most wonderful sense of humor.”

The center, established in 1990, provides services, instruction and equipment to eligible patients, based on their needs. Through it's “Hear Again” program, the organization provides free, refurbished hearing aides to residents who cannot otherwise afford them.

It also provides case management, in which the staff helps clients with situations from making doctor appointments and finding jobs to dealing with problems either in writing or by phone.

The center also provides amplified phones, live interpreters and a relay service, in which operators act as mediators and a computer is used to allow hearing-impaired people to communicate by telephone with others.

Based on financial need, the center also offers phones and doorbells that come equipped with flashing lights. Sign language classes are available for not only the hearing impaired, but also their family members. Linda Jones, Florida Telephone Relay’s equipment program manager, said she just loves being able to help people, whether by providing hearing equipment, helping them find jobs or just witnessing their obvious happiness when they achieve a success or hear something better than before. She said providing help is the highlight of her job.

“To help bridge the communication gap and be here to assist our hard of hearing individuals is very rewarding,” said Jones. “I witnessed the testimony of a grandfather that heard his grandchildren for the first time with the Hear Again program — it’s just the whole idea of being able to assist our clients and the success stories.”

Sheila Crandall, one of the center’s interpreters, said the center helps all kinds of people — some born deaf and some who lose their hearing later in life, whether naturally or as the result of an accident. The center has adults and children as clients. Crandell said support and trust are high on the list of reasons people come to the center. She explained that additional support is especially important to those who lose their hearing later in life because they sometimes have problems dealing with their loss and how to handle it.

According to Crandel, people who are born deaf come in for help as needed, but often cope better with their impairment because that’s all they’ve ever known. In a letter featured in the center’s last newsletter for April, Kari White, a client and mother of autistic twin daughters, said she was excited about finding the center as she was driving about three months ago and thankful for the help she’s received through the Deaf and Hearing Services of Lake and Sumter.

White’s daughters, Ashley and Alexandra, are both autistic, but Ashley’s case is more severe because she does not speak.

According to her letter, after finding out about what the center offered, White decided to take the sign language classes because Ashley’s school was also incorporating sign language into her daily routine. “It has been a wonderful experience for me and my family.We have learned a new way to communicate and my daughter Ashley is beginning to use her signs daily,” wrote White. “The added bonus for her is that every time she learns a new sign, she also verbally says the word. This, coming from a child we thought was completely nonverbal, is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life.” “Thank God the Deaf and Hearing Center popped up in my life and thanks to all who helped me and my daughter learn to communicate with our hands,” she said.