About the Center for Childhood Communication
The Center for Childhood Communication at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers a wide-range of clinical services for children and their families. We are the region’s first truly comprehensive center committed to helping children reach their full potential by delivering integrated family-centered clinical care, conducting innovative research, and providing quality education. Our team includes audiologists, speech-language pathologists, educational consultants, child and family therapists, otolaryngologists and researchers. Our experts:
- Offer treatment and counseling services to children and their families on an inpatient and outpatient basis
- Evaluate the progress and support the development of auditory and communication skills
- Connect families with appropriate community resources, educational programs, and advocacy services
- Provide recommendations for children’s educational services and goals
- Support children’s social/emotional development, including positive self-esteem and self-advocacy skills
- Support patients through transition into adulthood
- Apply the latest research discoveries to treat children with hearing, language, voice, speech and feeding/swallowing disorders
- Mentor students who are training to be healthcare professionals in audiology, speech-language pathology, social work, mental health counseling, basic science and medicine
We provide services across the continuum of care from CHOP’s intensive and acute care units, to rehabilitation programs and outpatient programs. In addition, our professionals participate in multiple specialty clinics, designed to meet the individual needs of families coping with specific diagnoses, including:
- Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Center
- Pediatric Stroke Program
- Pediatric Voice Program
- Pulmonary Hypoplasia Program
- Special Immunology Service
- Trisomy 21 Program
- Velopharyngeal Dysfunction (VPD) Program
- William Syndrome Clinic
Our services
Audiology services
Our Department of Audiology provides comprehensive diagnostic and rehabilitative hearing and balance services for children from birth to 21 years of age. Our team of specialized professionals ensures the best care for your child and provides you with the resources needed to make informed decisions.
Speech and language assessment and intervention sessions
Our Department of Speech-Language Pathology evaluates and treats children who have difficulties with communication and swallowing. Our patients range in age from birth through adolescence. We work closely with families and referring physicians to better understand a child’s communication strengths and needs, and provide information to help families make decisions about available services.
Family wellness services
Parents and children who are hard of hearing or deaf face the day-to-day stresses that come with living with hearing differences and may need to practice skills to make life easier. To support our patients and their families, we offer services with child and family therapists that address social, emotional and behavioral checkups, transition planning, access to state and local community services and much more, through our Family Wellness Services.
Cochlear Implant Program
The Cochlear Implant Program offers customized care to children with sensorineural hearing loss who are being evaluated for cochlear implantation and children who already use cochlear implants. Our multidisciplinary team includes audiologists, otolaryngologists, speech-language pathologists, a child and family therapist, and educational consultant.
Research
In addition to clinical work involving the diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders, our team is actively involved in research. The mission of the Center for Childhood Communication includes participating in innovative research in an attempt to help children reach their full potential. Our staff frequently collaborates on research being conducted in programs throughout the Hospital, and initiates independent research that can be carried out within the center.