Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we have no age restrictions at all. We see very young children (infants and toddlers) to those over 100!

Hours vary by location.
Main Office
2825 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45219
Hours: 8:30-5:00
Monday through Friday

Eastgate Office
4440 Glen Este-Withamsville Rd, Suite 475
Cincinnati, OH 45245
Hours: 8:30-noon and 1:00-5:00
Monday through Friday

West Chester Office
5900 West Chester Rd, Suite J
West Chester, OH 45069
Hours: 8:30-noon and 1:00-5:00
Monday through Friday

Emergency sign language interpreting is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days per year. Please call (513) 221-0527 for more information.

We are a freestanding, non-medically based facility providing audiology, deaf services, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy. All programs provide community outreach, advocacy, education, and student training/mentoring.

We accept most insurance plans and are a participating provider for a long list of insurance companies. Please call our office at (513) 221-0527 x 129 (audiology) or x 116 (speech) to have your specific questions answered.

No. There are cases, however, when your medical insurance company may require a referral. This is not our requirement. Please call our office at (513) 221-0527 x 129 (audiology) or x 116 (speech) to have your specific questions answered.

Yes, you may be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for certain services (such as American Sign Language Interpreting); you may receive a referral and authorization for payment from Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, Bureau of Workman’s Compensation, Bureau of Disability Determination, etc. Generally, if this is a private matter and you are initiating the appointment, you will be expected to pay for your product or service.

No, our prices are average, neither high nor low. We keep them at market rate to be fair to the other providers. In addition, every time we serve someone who has the financial means to pay for products or services, it helps us to provide the same for someone who cannot. While for profit companies put the extra into salaries, commission and bonuses, we put any theoretical “surplus” into our charitable services program so that others may have the benefit of overcoming obstacles to communication.

This is a program for individuals who have no other possible means of purchasing the products or services they need. Our CenterCares Program is dependent on donor funding, and program funding is normally limited. Nor are the products or services free. Individuals are required to complete an application and provide proof of all forms of family income and will then receive correspondence back from us regarding the amount of discount they qualify for based on that year’s federal poverty guidelines. There is also, at times, a waiting period of undetermined length based on funding.

Your privacy is important to us. It is the policy of Hearing Speech + Deaf Center (HSDC) to uphold the privacy of all individuals who donate to HSDC and/or use HSDC services.

All interactions, whether in-person, online, phone, or mail, are considered confidential and are treated as such. All staff and volunteers are required to maintain an individual’s right to privacy and are instructed on this during their orientation process.

All records or files involving individual’s who have donated to HSDC or for those who receive services from HSDC are considered confidential and are maintained in a secure location.

All contact information such as name, address, telephone number, email address and payment processes from donors and clients are kept confidential. For more information about our privacy policy, or to review or correct information we may have collected from you, please contact HSDC at (513) 221-0527.

Under no circumstance does Hearing Speech + Deaf Center share its mailing list with any other organization.

To see our most recent Form 990 (tax return), please go to www.guidestar.org and type HSDC’s employer identification number, 31-0536654, in the Search field in the top right-hand corner of the page. This will take you directly to HSDC’s information. You may also click on the link for Annual Report on the left-hand side of the HSDC’s homepage to view our current financial information.

We live in a state that currently provides one analog hearing aid every 4 years for adults (and 2 for children) for those individuals who qualify for Medicaid, which is the health insurance program for those who are indigent, living in poverty. This is discretionary (for adults) and may, at some point in time be a benefit that is eliminated from the state budget. The amount that Medicaid reimburses the provider is low so many practitioners choose not to accept this form of payment. It is, however, part of our mission and we feel strongly about providing this for the community.

For many years the Center has been known as the premier provider of hearing aids for several reasons. First, we employ only audiologists, not hearing aid dealers or fitters. This training requires a Masters or Doctoral degree. In addition, none of our clinicians make a commission or bonus, they work on straight salary. Their livelihood is not dependent on what they sell, or if they sell. Third, we have no loyalty to any single manufacturer. We have accounts with literally dozens and while it would be foolish to dabble in that many at one time, the option is always t here. Our clinicians tend to get expert in several different brands and models at a time, until something new and more sophisticated comes along, is tried and true and proven, and then they begin to dispense that. We pay our clinicians to take continuing education constantly so they stay up to date and are on top of the latest trends. Because we are accredited by several different funders, we obtain outcomes measurements to ensure every hearing aid fitting is successful. We use state of the art instrumentation and evidence based clinical practices.

Our best outcome is a satisfied patient who tells others who become satisfied patients!

The cost of hearing aids depends on the technology inside them, not by their size or style. It’s essential to consider your lifestyle and listening needs.

You can schedule a visit with one of our audiologists to find hearing aids within your budget and right for you. There’s no need to get costly features that you won’t use and don’t need.

Call today to schedule your hearing aid consultation: Clifton/Corryville (513-221-0527); Eastgate (513-947-8470); West Chester (513-942-3350).

There are actually a few options here. You can use your own credit card and pay that off on your own time or we can provide you with information on a program called “care credit”, and help connect you to this program which is just like a payment plan. You can look them up at www.carecredit.com for more information.

Yes, we accept hearing aids and assistive listening devices in any condition as donations. Most we can not reuse, although if they are behind-the-ear models in very good shape, we can use those as loaners. We typically use donated hearing aids for demonstration, graduate student training, educational purposes. Many hearing aid manufacturers accept used hearing aids for salvage. We cannot put a value on the contribution letter; you will have to speak to your accountant about how to value this donation. You can download an equipment donation form here.

Yes, we offer a series of classes, run throughout the year. Please check our calendar for the next series.

We have approximately 8 staff interpreters and a group of 30 freelance interpreters that we call upon during peak times when all of our staff is at jobs or an assignment comes in that is either after hours or over the weekend. We provide 15,000 hours of sign language interpreting per year so we are a pretty busy group!

Speech Therapy is available at all three of our locations: at our Burnet Location, our West Chester Location, and at our Eastgate Location.

Yes! We encourage families to look into outpatient speech therapy during the summer months to maintain progress made during the school year.

If you feel worried about your child’s speech and/or language development, it’s never too early to check.  It’s a good idea to be proactive rather than reactive.  Speech therapy can be beneficial to people of all ages.  If you or a loved one is having any communication difficulty, talk with one of our speech-language pathologists to see if speech therapy is right for you!

Occupational Therapy is available at our Burnet Location.

Occupational therapy can benefit both children and adults who demonstrate difficulty with fine motor skills (i.e. handwriting, using scissors, using utensils, etc.), sensory or behavior regulation, or activities of daily living (i.e. cooking, dressing, etc.). It’s never too early to ask! Call today to consult with our Occupational Therapist.