Center on Deafness

The Center on Deafness, a not for profit Illinois Corporation, began serving the deaf and hard of hearing community nearly forty years ago and has only one mission, to serve both children and adults who have hearing impairments with additional handicapping conditions such as mental illness or developmental disabilities. We are only one of a few organizations in the country that serves only the deaf and hard of hearing population with additional disabilities. Since its inception, the Center has had as its purpose the treatment and rehabilitation of clients who are deaf or hard of hearing, along with other disabilities, with return to the community at large or integration into the community with assistance as the goal for each client. Residential services for adults and students are based in the community using apartments, townhouses and homes to create a less restrictive more normal environment. An experienced staff trained in the area of deafness and fluent in the use of sign language provides treatment, life skills training, and vocational and social skills training to clients. Qualified, certified and licensed social work, psychiatric, nursing, vocational and educational staffs are part of the team that provides service to the population. The Center contracts with the only hospital psychiatric unit for the deaf in the State of Illinois should hospitalization be required for clients. The Center on Deafness is approved by the Illinois State Board of Education and certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), the Illinois Department of Human Services and is an Illinois Licensed Medicare Provider. The Center is also approved by various other states within the US to serve clients from those states.