The Speech and Hearing Institute is devoted to the amelioration of speech, language, and hearing disorders throughout life, from birth to old age. Our institute specializes in the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and rehabilitation of speech, language and hearing disorders. It is the largest institute in Israel, and considered one of the largest centers worldwide.
The Speech and Hearing Institute is affiliated to the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University and is led by a communication disorder clinician who is also a full time Professor at the Department of Communication Disorders. In addition, for over thirty years, the chair of the Communication Disorders Department was also head or a staff member of the Speech and Hearing Institute (Professors Rubinstein, Hildesheimer and Muchnik). The staff includes audiologists and speech pathologists, most of who are graduates (M.A. and Ph.D) of the Department of Communication Disorders in the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University and are faculty members as well. The well-established and fruitful collaboration between the Speech and Hearing Institute and the Department of Communication Disorders has led to high academic, clinical and research achievements endorsing the communication disorder profession in Israel.
The speech and hearing Institute specializes in the detection, diagnosis and rehabilitation of the following disorders:
Language Disorders
In the process of communication there is usually a speaker and a listener. The speaker has to decide what he wants to say and organize it into a linguistic form, whereas the listener has to decode or interpret it. Impairment in one or more of the processes that are involved in linguistic organization, execution and processing is treated at our center. Examples of such disorders are developmental language disorders, acquired post-traumatic language disorders in children, Aphasia (post-CVA) in adults.
Speech Disorders
Articulation - Once language is formed, instructions are transmitted via the motor nerves to the articulation organs: tongue, lips, etc. Disruption of this process causes speech and articulation disorders such as Dyspraxia and Dysarthria that are successfully treated by our clinicians.
Voice - Speech is transmitted using voice. Voice disorders may occur when there is a disturbance in normal vocal cord activity. In collaboration with otolaryngologists, we offer our patients advanced diagnostic and rehabilitative procedures such as stroboscopy and state-of-the-art acoustic analysis of speech.
Fluency - Fluency is another important aspect of speech. Its disruption causes communicational and emotional anguish. Management of fluency disorders requires special professional skills. The staff at our Institute is well acquainted with state of the art intervention programs of fluency disorders, some of which are unique in Israel (for example: interactive therapy for children).
Swallowing Disorders - Speech pathologists in our Institute are playing an important role in the interdisciplinary team that manages swallowing disorders (i.e. otolaryngolgists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, neurologists, gerenterologists). Our staff are involved in the functional evaluation and treatment of hospitalized and outpatient children and adults.
Hearing Disorders
A hard of hearing or deaf person, deprived of hearing, may be withdrawn from society, and from the noisy living world surrounding him. Rehabilitation using hearing aids and cochlear implant has the potential to integrate these patients into the hearing society.
The Speech and Hearing Institute provides comprehensive diagnostic and rehabilitative services for all areas of auditory disorders across the entire age span from birth to old age. The provided services include:
- Functional diagnosis of the auditory system, using:
- Behavioral psychoacoustic testing
- Electrophysiologic measurements including auditory evoked potentials (i.e. short, middle, late and cognitive evoked potentials) and evoked oto-acoustic emissions (OAE) (click on neonatal hearing screening line).
- Auditory Rehabilitation including:
- Fitting of personal amplification systems including programmable and digital hearing aids, FM systems and assistive listening devices.
- The clinic offers a comprehensive auditory rehabilitation program including counseling, training, and lip-reading strategies.
- Cochlear implant program (click on cochlear implant program link).
Fortunately, in the present era of cochlear implantation, deaf children and adults have the opportunity to become integral members of the hearing society. The tremendous impact of cochlear implantation on the recipient and his family often say "It's a miracle," "I was reborn," "A new child has come into our family."
We at the Speech and Hearing Institute feel privileged to take part in the wonderful processes that enables verbal communication from birth to old age.
Special Programs
The Speech And Hearing Institute offers three special programs.
Auditory Processing Disorders
Our Institute diagnoses and treats individuals (especially children) having Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). The main difficulty in APD is speech processing in spite of normal hearing sensitivity and intellectual abilities. Our Institute was the first in Israel to adopt a test battery for the evaluation of APD in Hebrew speaking subjects. We also developed an intervention program and management techniques for this population.
Neonatal Hearing Screening
Early identification and intervention prior to 6 months of age can diminish and even eliminate the detrimental effects of hearing loss on the development of speech and language.
In collaboration with the Neonatal Department, a pioneering universal neonatal hearing-screening program in Israel was initiated in 1997. Today, all newborns are tested using a non-invasive, objective technique called Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE). Using a small microphone placed in the external ear canal, sound is introduced and an echo generated by the hair cells in the cochlea, is picked up as sound energy. To date, over 50,000 babies have been tested. Those who are diagnosed with hearing impairment are immediately habilitated using hearing aids and/or cochlear implants.
Cochlear Implant
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that can restore useful hearing and provide improved communication abilities for persons who have a bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss and receive little to no benefit from hearing aids. It consists of internal and external components. The internal part is surgically implanted by an ENT physician. The external parts consist of a speech processor and headset. Following surgery, the implantees are enrolled in a rehabilitation process, including sessions of programming the device to optimize individual hearing and auditory training.
The Cochlear Implant Program was established in 1989 with the implantation of a multi-channel device in a post-lingual adult. The first child was implanted in 1991. Approximately 270 children and adults have received cochlear implants at our Institute making it the largest cochlear implant program in Israel and a fairly large program internationally. Through the years special evaluation and rehabilitation procedures have been developed, presented in international meetings, and published in prestigious scientific journals.
| Institute at a Glance |
| Outpatients Per Year - 11000 |
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Director - Prof. Minka Hildesheimer (Ph.D)
Prof. Minka Hildesheimer, Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences, serves as the head of the Speech and Hearing Center at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center since the 80’s, following the retirement of Prof. Moshe Rubinstein, the founder of the discipline in Israel and her mentor. Prof. Hildesheimer graduated the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University. She is a full professor at Tel Aviv University and is member of the faculty of the Department of Communication Disorders, School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medicine. Between 1985-94, she also served as the head of the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University.
Prof. Hildesheimer, together with highly professional clinicians, have led the Speech and Hearing Institute, which is the largest in Israel and one of the largest institutes worldwide, in pioneering and innovative professional developments. |
| Address - Speech and Hearing Institute |
| E-mail - Minka.Hildesheimer@sheba.health.gov.il |
| Tel - 972-3–530-2615 | |
