Finding your voice with the Children's Hearing & Speech Centre of BC + a Giveaway!

When a representative from the Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC reached out to us to help spread the word about their dedication to helping young children with speech and hearing impairments develop their speech through listening, consistency and practice, I couldn’t say not say yes.

Many of you may not know that I, myself, am hearing impaired.  Diagnosed at the age of five, I’ve been wearing hearing aids ever since, and had it not been for the amazing audiologists and speech therapists that helped me through my journey, I may not be who I am today.

Why the late diagnosis?  Back in the 80’s, there wasn’t a mandatory newborn hearing test like there is today.  My parents started to gradually notice that I wasn’t hearing things as sharp as I should have been and began realizing that the way I was pronouncing words seemed to be a little off.  At five years old, they found out that I had inherited hearing loss from my dad’s side of the family.

The result?  I was still a normal five year old going about my five year old business.  Hearing loss was a part of who I was and it wasn’t going to stop me from doing anything I wanted to do.  It didn’t stop me from becoming a competitive gymnast.  It didn’t stop me from playing basketball, volleyball, badminton or joining track & field.  It didn’t stop me from making friends, scoring honour roll status in high school or becoming who I am today.  And it sure didn’t stop me from starting this blog!

Sure I’ve accomplished a lot in my 30 years, but I do have to give credit to my audiologists and speech therapists who coached me through my speech impairments at an early age – just like the Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC is committed to doing for kids like me.
Founded in 1963, the Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC has helped children from infancy to the age of 18 discover a world of listening and speech through their dedication to teaching kids how to speak without the use of sign language. Click here for more information about the Centre and the services they provide.

{3rd Annual Family Concert}


The Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre is hosting their 3rd annual Family Concert on Saturday, April 12, 2014, featuring two special concerts from 2014 Grammy Award Winning artist and two-time Juno award nominee, Jennifer Gasoi.

When:  Saturday April 12, 2014

Showtimes: 10:30 am and 1:00 pm

Where: 
Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre (NART)
Jewish Community Centre
950 W. 41st Ave, Vancouver

Prices:
$15.50* per child & youth under 17
$18.50* per adult 18 and over
$60.00* for a family of four - 2 adults and 2 children under 17
*includes NART Venue Improvement Fee Service Charge

Tickets are available here or you can win your way in with SwankMama (see below)!

{Win It!}

The Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC is hosting two family-friendly concerts on Saturday, April 12, 2014 featuring Jennifer Gasoi, the 2014 Grammy Award winner for Best Children’s Album! They have generously offered to give one of our lucky readers a family pack of tickets {$60 value – 2 adults and 2 children} to this amazing event. Giveaway is open until Friday, March 28, 2014 and the winner must be able to attend the concert in person. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: The views expressed in this review are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of the Children's Hearing and Speech Centre of BC. We did not receive any compensation in order to conduct this post.  Note that SwankMama does not accept responsibility for sponsors that do not fulfill their giveaway duties.  Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond, otherwise, a new winner will be chosen at random.