Children and Youth who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: National Organizations

ADARA strives to be the leader among professional organizations in transforming the paradigm of rehabilitation of Deaf people to enhancing the quality of life with people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This intent will be achieved through a balanced approach of consumerism and professionalism and will require the organization to continually examine the fundamental philosophies and attitudes that manifest themselves in the image of the organization and the configuration of the membership.

A national, independent non-profit organization whose purpose is providing support, encouragement, and information to families raising children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 166,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel, and students.

The Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness (DCDD) is concerned with the well- being, development, and education of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with communication and learning disorders, ranging from mild to profound, and/or who are deaf or hard of hearing. DCDD aims to provide information to professionals and families regarding (a) the development of communication and learning abilities, (b) the prevention of communication and learning disorders, and (c) evidence-based assessment and intervention practices for individuals with speech, language, learning, and/or hearing difficulties.

The Council on Education of the Deaf (CED) is an organization sponsored by the five national premiere organizations in education of deaf and hard of hearing students. The Council maintains high standards for persons working with deaf and/or hard-of-hearing students in all educational settings.

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is the nation’s leading organization representing people with hearing loss. HLAA provides assistance and resources for people with hearing loss and their families to learn how to adjust to living with hearing loss.

The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center is a federally funded center that provides information, training, and technical assistance for families of and professionals working with deaf or hard of hearing children.

The NAD is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America.

(((NCHAM serves as the National Resource Center for the implementation and improvement of comprehensive and effective Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) systems. As a multidisciplinary Center, their goal is to ensure that all infants and toddlers with hearing loss are identified as early as possible and provided with timely and appropriate audiological, educational, and medical intervention.

The National Cued Speech Association supports effective communication, language development and literacy in individuals, families and children alike through the use of Cued Speech.

Supports and conducts research in, and distributes information on, the disorders of human communication, including hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. The Institute also conducts and supports research and research training related to disease prevention and health promotion; addresses special biomedical and behavioral problems associated with people who have communication impairments or disorders; and supports efforts to create devices which substitute for lost and impaired sensory and communication function.