
Who We Are
The Decibels Foundation was founded in 2002 by two families of children with hearing loss, based on the belief that the parents and caregivers of children with hearing loss need as much support, education, and resources as their children.
Ninety percent of children with hearing loss are born to hearing parents who have no experience with hearing loss. Fully supported families are essential to the long-term success of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
For this reason we support a family-centered approach to hearing loss programs that are designed to provide parallel education and support to the child and the parent.
Our mission is to support children from birth through the time that they enter a mainstream educational environment and beyond. We help the children by first helping their parents learn how to raise a child with a hearing loss, then helping school systems understand what it takes to educate a child with hearing loss.
Early Intervention
The cornerstone of The Decibels Foundation’s work is the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention in Concord, MA. Created by families in September 2002, this program provides highly specialized professional services to children with hearing loss and related developmental disabilities with support from The Decibels Foundation.
Many children with hearing loss are diagnosed within the first days or weeks of their lives. It is difficult to accurately predict at this young age if a child will be a candidate for a cochlear implant, if they will be able to make use of residual hearing, or if they can access speech. This can make it impossible for parents to choose a primary language for their children.
Combine this with the fact that the majority of deaf or hard-of-hearing children are born to hearing parents and the complexities increase. The approach of the Minuteman Arc playgroup is to provide an environment where English is the primary language, but a manual language – signed exact English – is also taught at an early age to ensure that whichever path the child takes, language is being developed during the critical years.
In early 2010, The Decibels Foundation and the Caroline Bass Fund, an Otolaryngology Fund for Children’s Hospital Boston, combined their more than seven-year history of fulfilling one mission: to support programs for families of children with hearing loss and the professionals working with them. Combined, the Decibels Foundation and the Caroline Bass Fund at Children’s Hospital have invested over $2,000,000 to help children with hearing loss.
In honor of our 20th anniversary in 2022, we recorded videos with Co-Founder Mark Dunning about Decibels’ beginnings.
Founding of the Decibels Foundation
When Did You Know the Decibels Foundation Would Work?
Board of Directors
The Decibels Foundation’s Board of Directors is composed of dedicated parents, educators, and professionals with extensive personal experience with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Each board member brings a unique perspective and skill set to support our mission.
- Jill Maxwell, President
- Brad Austin, Chair
- Michael Banu, Treasurer
- Courtney Aseltine
- Jeffrey Bass, MD
- Mandy Bass, MS
- Sarah Burianek
- Margaret Kenna, MD
- Heidi Klapinsky
- Joshua Weirsma
Staff
- Katie Bonner, Administration and Communication Manager
- Shauna White, Fundraising and Events Manager
Family Testimonials
Deacon
Our son, Deacon, made our long-held dreams come true when he arrived in August 2012 and made our family complete. This joy was tempered a bit when we learned that Deacon didn’t pass the two newborn hearing screenings performed at the hospital. At just nine days old, we were at Boston Children’s Hospital to have a more thorough test done. We learned that day that Deacon had bilateral moderate hearing loss. While stunned and saddened to hear the news of his diagnosis, we were determined to do whatever we needed to make all of our dreams for Deacon’s future come true. The physician at Children’s shared a packet full of resources with us that day. She suggested we look into the few options available for babies, such as playgroups and speech therapy services.
“We are forever indebted to these phenomenal teachers and therapists who are dedicated to their respective crafts and are helping us to make all of our dreams for Deacon come true.”
We knew when we went to visit the baby group at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention, which is supported by The Decibels Foundation, that we had found a wonderful fit for Deacon and our family. As we think back to how scared we felt leaving the hospital with our newborn son and after his diagnosis the following week; we were overwhelmed and unsure of what to do as we began to navigate this uncharted territory of “hearing loss.” As a family, our path was clearer because of the support of The Decibels Foundation.
Deacon is a happy, talkative, and inquisitive boy who is quickly growing into a young man. As parents, we have learned a lot and continue to. We are fortunate to have this community of families, teachers, and therapists who we know will always be a resource to us. We are forever indebted to these phenomenal teachers and therapists who are dedicated to their respective crafts and are helping us to make all of our dreams for Deacon come true.
June and Bruce
When we walked into the Minute Man Arc building in Concord for an introduction to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program playgroups, we were a family in crisis. Months earlier we had learned that our new baby, Bruce, had been born with significant hearing loss. At the same time, we learned that our daughter, June (then two years old), also had hearing loss. Both kids would need hearing aids. We left the audiologists with a referral to early intervention and an appointment to get fitted with hearing aids. We were all set. Or so we thought.
The hearing aids did their job, but something seemed missing. Months of EI had gone by and no substantive services had been offered. We knew so little about hearing loss and even less about available services. We were desperate to receive guidance and advocacy to get the children what they needed in order to reap the benefits of their new technology. We were absolutely frustrated and starting to feel powerless and hopeless, so we started looking into programs further away.
“We could not imagine how vital and life changing these programs would become for our whole family.”
When we first found the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention, we could not imagine how vital and life changing these programs would become for our whole family. Because of the amazing support of the Decibels Foundation, Bruce was able to join the baby group and June began the toddler group. Our children began formal programs of learning how to listen and reproduce spoken language.
They got to spend time with other kids who had hearing aids and just having fun. At the parent group we learned about what services the children needed and how to access them. We continue to gain perspective as parents, moving into hope as more experienced parents share insights, strategies and lots of laughs with us. And The Decibels Foundation has helped our family in another significant way: by making available the expertise and advocacy of transition support specialists as we navigated the IEP process for the first time.
Delia
As a preschooler, while at a local fair, our daughter Delia saw some cows. She sprinted over, arms stretched out wide, and exclaimed, “Wow! Big cow”! I looked at my husband, his eyes and smile beaming. I could feel the same emotion coming across my face. Exhibiting pure joy at the sound and sight of our daughter’s reaction to the cows she’s been accustomed to seeing in her storybooks.
It was evident, in those few words, that months of hard work were showing through. The work was so crucial, because Delia is deaf. She was born with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. When she was diagnosed at just 5 weeks old, we never dreamed we would be chasing her through the cow barn as she shouted words in excitement.
“Fortunately for us, our Early Intervention provider was the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention, which is funded largely by The Decibels Foundation, and has one of the best reputations in Massachusetts for their D/HH programs.”
The fears and challenges we faced as new parents, who also happened to be parents of a deaf child, were almost overwhelming at times. Fortunately for us, our Early Intervention provider was the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention, which is funded largely by The Decibels Foundation, and has one of the best reputations in Massachusetts for their D/HH programs. From the time Delia was 3 1/2 months old, we became part of the Minute Man and Decibels family and began making lifelong connections with others in her playgroups.
At one year old, Delia received cochlear implants. These have brought with them a new set of challenges as we help Delia adjust to becoming part of the hearing world. And she is thriving. Every instance of uttering the word cow, the turn of her head to her name, or her request to sing “Row, row, row your boat” is undoubtedly due to the talents of an incredible team of speech therapists, teacher of the deaf, and other professionals at Minute Man Arc. We will be forever grateful for the positive impact Minute Man and The Decibels Foundation has made on our lives.
Caroline
Receiving the news that your child is hard of hearing is a life-altering experience for the whole family. It can also be very frightening. The Decibels Foundation and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention gave our family the anchor we needed. Our second daughter, Caroline, was born with mild hearing loss that progressed to severe hearing loss by her second birthday. We didn’t know where to turn for support and assistance until our audiologist told us about Decibels.
“We didn’t know where to turn for support and assistance until our audiologist told us about Decibels.”
Caroline was so fortunate to benefit from teachers who have experience working with children with hearing loss and her progress in comprehension and speech was remarkable. It was also beneficial for her to be with her peers who were also deaf or hard of hearing and to realize that she is not the only child who wears hearing aids. As parents, we were so fortunate to be able to benefit from the expertise of her speech therapists, who are committed not only to working with Caroline, but also to giving us strategies to use at home.
“Caroline was so fortunate to be able to benefit from teachers who have experience working with children who are hard of hearing.”
The parent support group has been an invaluable resource as we navigated through the diagnosis and then progression of Caroline’s hearing loss, and then the transition from EI into the school system. Knowing that others have gone before and succeeded gave us confidence for the future. Our ability to communicate with Caroline when she is not wearing her hearing aids would be severely impaired were it not for the skills we learned in the parent sign class.
The Decibels Foundation supports programs that give children solid foundations in speech and language. It helps parents by providing tools and resources to successfully raise a child with hearing loss. It truly is an anchor for families adrift in an unfamiliar sea.
“It truly is an anchor for families adrift in an unfamiliar sea.”
2011 Stay Classy Award Winner

On September 17, 2011, at the 3rd Annual CLASSY Awards in San Diego, the Decibels Foundation was chosen as the “Most Successful Fundraiser by a Group’ for their Blanchard School Sixth Grade Roll-a-thon.
The CLASSY Awards, presented by Stay Classy, an online fundraising website, are the Oscars for philanthropy. Foundations and charities from around the country submit their entries in dozens of categories and compete for the final prize by garnering enough votes and convincing the panel of judges that theirs is the most worthy project. Decibels’ project, the Roll-a-thon, raised $20,000 for the Minute Man Arc Early Intervention program for babies with hearing loss. The fact that a group of sixth graders did this was impressive enough to win over the judges and give them the top prize in their category.
Accepting the award was Bella Dunning, a Blanchard sixth-grader who was one of the Roll-a-thon’s leaders. Bella was born profoundly deaf, and is a graduate of a program just like this one. It’s why her parents, Mark and Julia Dunning, started Decibels: to give other children like Bella the chance to succeed. And she has – she stood on a stage in front of thousands of people and confidently read her speech, no doubt giving hope to other parents of children with hearing loss.
What did this mean? It meant that the Decibels Foundation received $10,000 to expand the program at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialty Program at Minute Man Arc Early Intervention in Concord from one playgroup for ages birth to three to two playgroups, allowing them to create a separate group for babies from birth to 15 months, and to open their existing program to the toddlers aged 15 months to 3 years who were on their waiting list. The two playgroups continue to run to this day.
The accompanying photo shows the initial baby group created as a result of this award and the tremendous efforts of 6th grade students at Blanchard School in Boxborough, MA.