Beit Micha was founded in 1954 by Dr. Ezra Korin, a physician and Israel Prize laureate. The organization provides treatment and rehabilitation of children who are deaf and have hearing impairments, from birth to first grade.
The multidisciplinary center operated by the organization provides support to the child and his or her family under one roof through a great variety of paramedical professionals: speech therapists, audiologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and an educational-therapeutic team of kindergarten teachers and special education assistants.
The high-quality treatment is adapted to all sectors of the population: Jews, Arabs, religious and secular. Currently, the organization provides treatments and therapy to over 700 children and their families each year, from the greater Central area (the range of the cities of Gedera to Hadera). In addition, the organization has a branch in Kfar Kassem that cares for children from the Arab sector living in localities in the area.
Most of the children treated at Beit Micha are located as early as the first year of their lives. For some children, hearing impairment occurred and was detected at a later age. The children admitted to Beit Micha for treatment have various hearing impairments, which require rehabilitation with hearing aids or cochlear implants and other amplification aids. Children with single-sided hearing impairment are also accepted.
The organization’s vision is to provide every deaf and hard-of-hearing child with the tools to acquire communication, language, development and equal opportunities for their full integration into society. 88% of the organization’s graduates integrate into the first grade in the mainstream education system.
Beit Micha’s accumulated knowledge and experience have earned it a reputation for exemplary professionalism and expertise. The organization serves as a training center for students and professionals in the field of hearing impairments.
In 2019, the organization formulated a five-year strategic plan, which includes, among other:
· Positioning the organization as the leading body of knowledge in Israeli society in the field of hearing impairments
· Establishing a podcast station to disseminate the know-how and experience and to make the therapeutic knowledge accessible
· Developing a program for supporting and accompanying families
· Managing entrepreneurship and innovation projects for the benefit of toddlers with hearing impairments
· Computerization of the organization and digitization of the child’s data
· Professional development and training
· Managing the alumni community.
The organization works in coordination and cooperation with a number of government ministries: the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education.
