(Wethersfield, CT) - On Thursday, March 8, 2012, the Capitol Region Education Council's Soundbridge commemorated 45 years of providing high quality services and support to hearing and deaf impaired children throughout Connecticut. The event was intended to serve as the first of a series of events planned to celebrate the program's anniversary. The agenda included speeches from physicians about cochlear implants and future cochlear implant technologies; a silent auction; and a networking reception.

The event also kicked-off a fundraising appeal to raise $50,000 for a new emergency assistive technology lending library. The emergency assistive technology lending library is to ensure no hearing impaired or deaf child Soundbridge serves loses access to sound. The lending library is intended to provide emergency backup equipment when a student loses or breaks their own. Sometimes it can take weeks if not longer before a student can get their own replacement equipment. The fundraising effort has raised $27,000 so far.

CREC Soundbridge started in 1966, as the result of the efforts of a small number of parents who wanted their children to learn to talk. Many of the original children were born with severe to profound hearing loss as a result of a Rubella epidemic in the mid-60's. The parents of these young children believed strongly in the benefits of a public school educational environment for their children, and they persuaded a teacher of the deaf, Sylvia Mathews, to teach their children. Today, CREC Soundbridge serves students from more than 100 school districts throughout Connecticut.

The mission of CREC Soundbridge is to provide specialized expertise and technology to promote listening and talking in children with hearing loss. Soundbridge continuously lives out its mission, servicing 750 children from towns in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The vast majority (90%) of Soundbridge students are served in their home school districts. Soundbridge graduates are living across the United States such as upper New York, California, and Florida. They are engaged and successful in a broad variety of fields, including neuropsychology, teaching, engineering, auto mechanics, retail, computer technology, X-Ray technology, social work, and building management.

Donations for the emergency assistive technology lending library are accepted by the CREC Foundation online or directly by contacting the Development Office at (860) 509-3657.

Left to right: Elaine Carroll, CREC Soundbridge Audiology Supervisor; Kris Rafter, Advanced Bionics; and Susan Piescik, CREC Soundbridge Audiologist