AgBell Parent-Infant Financial Aid Program Appl. Available Now

FYI: Rachel just sent me this...
AG Bell Parent-Infant Financial Aid Program Applications Now Available!
The Parent-Infant Financial Aid Program was established to provide financial aid support to families of infants who have been diagnosed with a moderate to profound hearing loss and who desire a spoken language outcome for their child. Grants are awarded to assist with expenses associated with auditory support services, speech-language therapy, tuition, hearing device purchases, etc. Click here to review the criteria and download an application.


Award Criteria

Applicants for this program should meet the following criteria:
Hearing loss must have been diagnosed prior to acquiring spoken language (pre-lingual hearing loss).
Hearing loss must be within the moderate to profound range. This means that the applicant must have an unaided Pure-Tone Average (PTA) of 55dB or more in the better hearing ear in the speech frequencies of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz. Children with cochlear implants meet this eligibility requirement. Spoken communication must be the child’s primary mode of communication.
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.
The child must be three (3) years of age or younger as of December 31, 2008. (If your child is older than three years of age, please look at the Pre-School Financial Aid award and the School-Age Financial Aid award on this site.)
Applicant must be a resident of the United States (including territories) or Canada.
Parents/guardians must demonstrate financial need.
NOTE: Children with unilateral [one-sided] hearing loss do not qualify.


Submission Requirements

Please use the following checklist to ensure that your application meets all requirements and includes all materials:
All pages of the application and supporting materials should be submitted on 8½” x 11” sheets of paper.
All pages should be single-sided.
No part of the application should contain a staple.
The application should be submitted flat (NOT folded) in a 9”x12” envelope, held together with one paper clip, and in the following order:
Application, with pages in numbered order. Every page of the application must be completed and the application must be signed.
For children who use hearing aids, an unaided Audiogram performed within the last twelve (12) months
OR, for those with cochlear implants, the first page of the most recent MAPping or CI report.
Recommendation from a hearing health or therapeutic professional (maximum of two pages, single-sided).
Recommendation from a current AG Bell member (maximum of two pages, single-sided). If you do not know an AG Bell member, please provide a recommendation from a member of your child’s educational/therapeutic team.
Recommendation from a non-relative who is familiar with the family’s financial need (maximum of two pages, single-sided).
Please DO remove letters of recommendation and transcripts from the envelopes in which you receive them, unfold them, and attach them to your application.

Please do NOT include any additional information, such as photos or tax returns; all such items will not be considered and will be destroyed.

Applicants are encouraged to keep a photocopy of their application; applications will not be returned under any circumstances.

Enrollment Period

AG Bell will be accepting applications for the Parent-Infant Financial Aid program beginning August 29, 2008.

Telephone requests for applications are not accepted. The application may be downloaded on this site (above), or you may request an application in writing via email to: financialaid@agbell.org or via fax to: 202-337-8314.

Only those individuals who do not have access to the internet (your local public library or your therapeutic or educational provider can provide easy and free access) or a fax machine should request an application in writing via the US postal service. Requests should be mailed to: Parent-Infant Application Request, AG Bell, 3417 Volta Place, NW, Washington, DC 20007.

Telephone inquiries about the status of an application or award are not accepted. Regular updates about the timing of various notifications will be posted to this site.

Deadline

The deadline for applications is October 16, 2008. All materials MUST arrive together in one package at AG Bell by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on October 16, 2008.

Application package should be mailed to:

Parent-Infant 2008 Financial Aid Program
AG Bell
3417 Volta Place, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Please Note:

AG Bell does not accept responsibility for delays or delivery errors on the part of delivery services; applicants are encouraged to submit applications well in advance of the deadline.


FAXed applications will not be accepted under any circumstances.


Late and incomplete applications will not be considered under any circumstances.


Applications will not be returned for any reason.


We have a strict policy for no exceptions; please do not contact AG Bell seeking an exception.