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Ways To Give

Until fairly recently, most craniofacial abnormalities, whether from a birth defect, a serious head injury or a tumor, were untreatable.

Children with these conditions led their lives with little hope of changing their very visible and devastating facial features.

But the Craniofacial Center is leading the way for more and more children to have a more normal appearance.

With lasers, computer imaging technology and child-sized surgical appliances, doctors are doing much more than they ever could for craniofacial conditions.

How You Can Help

T.E.E.N. (Teeth, Eyes, Ears and Noses)

What is the T.E.E.N. endowment?

In 2001 the Craniofacial T.E.E.N. endowment for Teeth, Eyes, Ears and Noses was established to provide funding for facial prosthetics at Children's Hospital.

Additional private support is needed to bring this fund to a level where it can meet the needs of all children who require a prosthetic device.

A gift to support the Craniofacial T.E.E.N fund for facial prosthetics at Children's Hospital will have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of these children and their families.

What's the need?

The availability of insurance coverage for treatment varies tremendously depending upon the company, policy type and other factors. Medicaid covers only life-threatening cases where severe functional impairment can be demonstrated.

A single prosthetic ear, eye, nose or dental bridge can cost $10,000. Many insurance companies do not cover the full cost of facial prosthetics because they consider them to be cosmetic.

Each year, as many as 15 children at Children's Hospital need facial prosthetics, but their insurance will not cover the cost and their families simply cannot manage this financial burden.

It goes without saying that a child's self-esteem, social development and emotional well-being are deeply affected by such conditions.

It is our goal to provide prosthetics to improve the quality of life for these children.

Find out how you can make a difference.

Communications and speech research

What is the Childhood Communication Center?

The Childhood Communication Center at Children's is providing life-changing treatment for children who are deaf or hard of hearing or have complex speech problems.

A child's ability to communicate can be impaired by a number of different factors such as congenital abnormalities, deafness, partial hearing loss, tracheotomies, craniofacial surgery, cancer of the neck or jaw, weakened muscles in the palate and throat and neurological issues.

Under the outstanding leadership of Dr. Kathleen Sie, the Childhood Communication Center is proving to be an inspiring model for other hospitals around the country.

What is the need?

Today, philanthropic support is vital to advancing important research to better understand the origins of hearing loss and how well children acquire auditory language once their implants are installed.

The results of this research will help improve speech processing technology as well as surgical techniques and follow-up care.

A gift to support pioneering research in the Childhood Communication Center at Children's Hospital will provide much-needed support to some of our best and brightest physician-scientists to launch new research projects in their ambitious efforts on behalf of children with hearing and communication disorders.

Find out how you can make a difference.