The Hearing Rehabilitation Foundation (HRF) is a non-profit organization formed in 1996 to provide and promote speech communication training for children and adults with hearing loss.
The HRFs Board of Management includes some of the most influential figures in audiology, education, and aural rehabilitation, including: Myles Kessler, Harry Levitt, Joseph Montano, Geoff Plant, J. Michael Reynolds, Ted Simmons, and Tad Zelski.
Since its inception, the HRF has been an important provider of services and resources for people with hearing loss and related professionals. These contributions have included:
- Step by Step and Speech Stuff, two books on teaching speech to deaf children
- Hear at Home, a home training resource for adults with acquired hearing loss.
- Organization of ISAC-98, a conference on the use of sensory aids for people with hearing loss which was attended by 40 researchers and clinicians from the US and abroad.
- Organization of the First International Adult Aural Rehabilitation Conference first held in Portland, Maine in May 2001. Over 100 people from nine countries participated. This conference is held every two years.
- Low-cost speech communication training to children and adults with hearing loss. Clients have included adults and children fitted with hearing aids, cochlear implants, and tactile aids. Clients who cannot afford to make a contribution to the HRF are seen without charge.
- Speech communication training workshops for teachers and clinicians working with adults and children.
- Geoff Plant, the President of the HRF, is frequently an invited speaker at conferences and workshops in the US and internationally.