Raising a child with autism can be overwhelming.

Speaking from experience with our son, Brayden, it is not only the day to day struggles, but also the accompanying uncertainty whether we are making the right decisions to provide the best care for him. Buffalo Hearing & Speech turned our fears into hope.

My husband and I fought very hard to find services for Brayden and have him accepted into a center-based program. When we finally won that battle, we were very nervous about selecting the right program. He was just three-years-old. This was a major life decision.

One visit to Buffalo Hearing & Speech, and we knew it was the right place for Brayden. The peaceful, comforting atmosphere of the center was perfectly balanced by the welcoming and caring staff. Still, we knew we owed it to Brayden to explore every option for him. So we toured other places. But everywhere we went, we were comparing them to Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center. We found there is no comparison.

Brayden enrolled at the Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center’s Evans location in the Fall of 2018. In just a little over one year, his growth and development has been remarkable. His team of teachers make us feel like family and they share our excitement with every one of Brayden’s milestones, large or small. The teachers truly have a passion for working with autistic children and it shows, in them and in Brayden.

Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center has been the greatest blessing in our lives since we were blessed with the gift of Brayden. Please consider a donation.

Irene and Josh Lewis

When we were first told that Rosalee (Rosie) had profound hearing loss at the age of three months we had so many unknowns of what her future would look like. Our audiologist at Buffalo Hearing and Speech reassured us that we were at the right place. Rosie would receive her hearing aids at seven months old and immediately began services with a BHSC speech therapist and teacher of the deaf at home and daycare. We were welcomed with open arms and again, reassured that the Oral Deaf School would provide Rosie with the tools she needed to advocate for herself and her speech/language skills to be prepared for mainstream when the time came.

Since entering the program at 18 months old Rosie has learned so much and every day we are in awe of that she is able to communicate so fluently with us and her peers. Her teachers and therapists are always there to encourage and remind the children to use their vocabulary to form sentences and to communicate with each other about their feelings.

Rosie is now in her final months within the walls of the Buffalo Hearing and Speech Oral Deaf School and on her final day we will be leaving a piece of us behind because everyone has been so wonderful at also teaching us the tools to have Rosie carry with her throughout her life. BHSC has become part of our family and a thank you will never be enough to what they have given us as parents; the gift of spoken language and listening that we never thought would be possible for our daughter.

Martha and Chuck Cino

It is hard to put into words how grateful we are for the Early Intervention program at Buffalo Hearing and Speech. Our daughter Grace was born profoundly deaf and got cochlear implants at right around 1 years old and started Early Intervention Services right away and then began in the EI Classroom when she was able to. Getting started in the program, there was always someone to help and explain how it all works. Moving now to being into the classroom setting, we have seen a huge shift and growth in Grace’s speaking and communication skills but also her willingness to try and socialize with others. She looks forward to going and loves seeing her friends and teachers and even asks where they are when she isn’t there and loves telling us about her days there. The teachers keep us posted on any changes and insights .They definitely are making a huge impact on Grace. We are forever thankful for the program and teachers at Buffalo Hearing and Speech.

Anne Marie

Carissa was born shortly before Christmas in 2010. She came out perfectly plump and had beautiful color. Everyone was happy and excited. Soon after, that excitement turned to confusion and concern. Over the next three days, we were notified of “things that we not quite right” and will need to be followed up. Her right thumb did not appear to be developed and had a rubberized appearance, she had difficulty feeding due to not being able to turn her head properly and it was discovered that she did not respond well to the hearing test. Carissa was blessed to be part of the first year group of universal testing. Thankfully, these were all noticed within one week of her life so that we could act as soon as possible to ensure our baby girl can have the life that we all hope our children have.

Within a relatively short period of time, Carissa was provided with Early Intervention Services. At first, we attempted to utilize these services in her daycare/home setting. We quickly learned that despite our efforts to obtain these services, the effectiveness was another matter. Carissa was provided with a hearing aid within the 1st year. At about a year, we requested she be evaluated for speech services. Using traditional daycare services did not appear to bode well for her. Often times, the hearing aid was removed. Since she was basically quiet, she didn’t appear to get much attention and it was clear that despite attempts by the Ot/Pt workers to utilize some of the therapy during her play time, she wasn’t making much progress. Thankfully, there was a solution that turned out to be a wonderful solution for our precious little girl. That solution was Buffalo Hearing and Speech.

Carissa started the program at about 19 months old. We started seeing a change in her relatively quickly. She was given Speech and OT services. The OT services were wonderful in working with her needs pre and post surgeries. There was no local specialist to be able to handle the needs of my daughter’s hands. We traveled to Rochester for over a year and eventually received medical assistance through Boston Children’s Hospital. During all of this, BHSC provided us as parental tools to help her in the home and community. They worked as closely as possible to the recommendations of the medical staff and what was needed based on her assessments. Today, Carissa is able to utilize her skills in many areas and although she is still developing, she continues to amaze us every day. Despite her history of upper body weakness, she loves to dance and more recently has turned to attempting cartwheels and back flips.

Carissa has been encouraged throughout this program. Her speech has improved leaps and bounds. Through parent observations, I witness that the teachers consistently encourage them to use their words. They often encourage at least 5 word sentences and provide positive reinforcement. At home, she never stops talking and is often the family reporter.

As we approach our last year at Buffalo Hearing and Speech Oral Deaf Education Program, I am confident that the tools that Carissa has been provided with will help her in the long term. Her progress is so amazing. She has inspired us as parents in so many ways. I love to watch her work through her challenges and I love her strong personality. I thank all of the staff for their continued effort to ensure that our children are receiving quality education, therapy and support to help them have a life full of quality and self-confidence.

Joe and Ruth Ceretto