Madison Mom Supports Babies with Hearing Loss

By Jackie Schatell

Madison resident Jessica Griffin is the president of Sound Start Foundation, a nonprofit which supports educational and therapeutic programs to help babies and toddlers with hearing loss, and their families, lead full and successful lives. Sound Start Foundation supports the Sound Start Babies Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, which provides life-changing early intervention, family support and nursery programs to children with hearing loss throughout New Jersey.

Jessica, mom of four, became involved with the organization after the birth of her second child, who was born deaf. Her son attended the Sound Start Babies Program beginning when he was a newborn. He is now nine years old, mainstreamed at a Madison elementary school and is learning on par with his hearing peers. Jessica first joined the Board of Trustees in 2014 and was elected president in 2016. “My son thrived after leaving Sound Start Babies because of the first-rate quality early intervention and therapies the program provided,” says Jessica. “I believe that all children with hearing loss deserve the same quality of care and level of service that our family received.”

The CDC says that about two to three out of every 1,000 children in the US are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. According to Sound Start Foundation, “If babies with hearing loss don’t receive intensive and personalized therapy during the most critical years of brain development – newborn to age three – irreversible delays in speech and learning can occur.”

The Sound Start Babies Program has helped thousands of babies with hearing loss learn to listen, speak, communicate, and achieve their full potential. Sound Start Foundation supports up to 65% of the program’s budget every year. Over $6 million has been raised since the inception of the Foundation that began 25 years ago. Babies enrolled in the Sound Start Babies Program receive home-based services provided by a tailored team of audiologists, teachers of the deaf, speech/language pathologists, and occupational and physical therapists. In addition, Sound Start Babies offers an award-winning nursery program, which provides a nurturing environment that fosters the skills to support life-long learning. The nursery program is for children ages 18 to 36 months, with and without hearing loss, who learn side by side in small groups. The Sound Start Babies Nursery is the only program of its kind in New Jersey.

Sound Start Foundation, which has a goal of raising at least $500K each year, held its 25th Anniversary Kick-off Cocktail Party in June, and will be hosting its 25th Anniversary Benefit on October 6th at The Mansion at Mountain Lakes. The event features a cocktail hour, silent and live auctions, a wine pull, and entertainment by Mandy Harvey, a deaf singer, songwriter, and motivational speaker who won an America’s Got Talent ‘Golden Buzzer.’ To attend the event, donate, or learn more, go to soundstartfdn.org.

Michael, Ian and Jessica Griffin