AG Bell Parent-Infant Financial Aid Awards Distributed
The AG Bell Parent-Infant Financial Aid Committee is pleased to announce a total of $118,849.96 was recently awarded to 140 families who are committed to a listening and spoken language outcome for their infants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing. Awards ranged from $600 to $1,200. Award recipients reside in 31 U.S. states and Canada.
About the Program
The Parent-Infant Financial Aid Program is for families of infants and toddlers ages birth through 3 who have been diagnosed with a moderate to profound hearing loss who are in pursuit of spoken language outcome for their child. Awards are intended to assist with expenses for services such as auditory support services, speech-language therapy, tuition, etc. Families should be committed to a listening and spoken language outcome for their child or children with hearing loss. This program is for individuals only; organizations are not eligible to apply. Awards are made once a year, generally in the month of December. Award amounts vary; over the past three years, awards have ranged from $300 to $2,000.
This program is currently open -- see the "Application and Deadline" section below for an application packet.
2013 Parent-Infant Financial Aid Program Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible for this program, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- The child must be three (3) years of age or younger as of December 31, 2013.
- The child must have a documented bilateral hearing loss or auditory neuropathy.
- Note: Children with unilateral (one-sided) hearing loss or unilateral auditory neuropathy do not qualify.
- The child’s hearing loss must be within the moderate to profound range. This means that he child must have an unaided Pure-Tone Average (PTA) of 55dB or greater in the better hearing ear in the speech frequencies of 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz.* Children with cochlear implants meet this eligibility requirement.
*This may not apply for children who have been diagnosed with AN. For information on required documentation for AN, please see the "documentation" section on the Application Submission Instructions page of the application packet.
Formula for calculating the PTA: On the unaided audiogram, look at the results for the better hearing ear at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz and add those three numbers together, then divide that total by three. The result is the Pure Tone Average. To be eligible for this award, the child’s PTA must be 55 or greater. - Parents must be committed to and pursuing a listening and spoken language outcome for the child.
- The child and family must reside in the United States (including territories) or in Canada.
- Parents/guardians should be able to clearly outline their need for financial assistance and plans for usage of grant funds.
NOTE: AG Bell membership is not required; however, preference may be given to members.
Application and Deadline
Select the application that works best for you and click the link:
I'd like to handwrite responses in my application OR I'd like to type responses in my application
The deadline for applications is October 7, 2013. All materials MUST ARRIVE together in one package at the address below by 5:00 p.m. local time on October 7, 2013. No supporting materials will be accepted separately from the application.
Send application package to:
Wendy Will
Parent-Infant Financial Aid
8745 Gary Burns Drive, Suite 160-504
Frisco, TX 75034
Please Note:
- Due to the volume of applications for multiple programs, we are not able to confirm receipt of applications. If you would like to know whether or not your application was received, you may choose to send your application using a service that can confirm delivery – preferably without requiring a signature as this can delay delivery. AG Bell does not accept responsibility nor make exceptions for any delays or delivery errors on the part of delivery services including the requirement of a signature. To ensure timely delivery, applicants are encouraged to submit applications well in advance of the deadline.
- Faxed applications are not accepted under any circumstances.
- Late and incomplete applications are not considered under any circumstances.
- Applications are not returned for any reason.
Please do not contact AG Bell seeking an exception to these policies.
Administrative Process
In the days after the application deadline, all applications are screened for eligibility. Eligible applications are then forwarded to the award selection committee for review; ineligible applications are discarded.
If an email address is provided on the application, once the screening process is complete (a minimum of 10 days after the deadline), you will be notified via email of the status of your application. In that email, you will also receive information about when you can expect to be notified of the award decisions. If an email address is not provided, you will not receive this notification.
Letters of notification will be mailed to all eligible applicants – those who were selected as well as those who were not selected to receive an award.
Do You Have Questions?
Click here to see the FAQs about AG Bell's Financial Aid Programs. If you still have a question or would like clarification, please send us an email. Responses make take up to three business days, so please plan accordingly when submitting your email.
See more at: https://www.listeningandspokenlanguage.org/Document.aspx?id=269#sthash.SGtiHPon.dpuf
