Background…
The Speech and Hearing Center, Inc. is a not-for-profit,
501 (C) (3), agency serving northeast Florida and southeast Georgia.
We provide high-quality audiology and speech/language pathology
services to the community. Our operating expenses are defrayed
by revenue for services, the sale of hearing aids, grants (United
Way of Northeast Florida, City of Jacksonville, Jessie Ball duPont
Fund, Sertoma) and donations.
The Center is a member of the National Association
of Speech and Hearing Centers.
Locations:
DOWNTOWN:
1128 North Laura Street
Jacksonville, FL 32206
MANDARIN:
12627 San Jose Blvd., #503 |
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Sarah Louise Davison, daughter of William Watson
Davison and Louise Davis Davison (founders of The Davison School
for Speech and Hearing, Atlanta, GA), attended public school in
Atlanta, Georgia.
After graduating high school, Sarah attended
Wesleyan College, in Macon, Georgia, where she earned her bachelor’s degree.
She then moved on to Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri,
where she obtained her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology.
After
obtaining her Speech Pathology degree, Sarah returned to Atlanta
to teach Speech-Language classes at the Davison School, which
was founded by her parents.
In 1941, Sarah married Howard Eugene
Barrett, and she took a sabbatical from teaching to become a
mother of three sons — Marshall,
Chandler, and Hank. Then, in 1946, Howard & Sarah, along
with their sons, moved to Jacksonville, Florida.
At the request
of concerned parents of children with communication disabilities,
Sarah and Dr. Hugh Carithers, a Jacksonville Pediatrician,
collaborated on a program for those in need of speech therapy.
Sarah evolved this program into the Jacksonville Speech School,
which would later be known as Speech & Hearing Center.
Sarah
was the volunteer director of the Speech & Hearing Center
for the first five years, until it became well established. She
then returned to Atlanta with her family and worked part-time
at the Davison School and served on the school’s Board
of Directors. Then, in 1961, Sarah established her own private
practice and worked with children with speech, hearing, and learning
difficulties, as well as stroke patients. She continued in her
private practice until she decided to retire in 1990.
While Sarah
helped many, many students overcome their disabilities and
all were important to her, there were *two notable cases
that highlighted her career.
*A very shy student with
severe speech and learning problems due to a complex cleft
lip & cleft palate
was referred to her after unsuccessful therapy. After a few years
of work with Sarah, this child became a high achiever in school
and later went on to become a vice-president for one of the South's
major banking institutions.
*A 5 year-old girl, profoundly deaf and mute, from Germany who
had been labeled as "un-trainable" by family and doctors
came to the US with American relatives who knew Sarah. After
one year of therapy with her, she was well adjusted and speaking
at a basic level. This child returned to Germany where she was
enrolled in a school for the deaf and went on to enjoy a successful
life and a family of her own.
When Sarah was not teaching, she
was an avid and accomplished needlepoint artist, having several
of her projects recognized.
Sarah Barrett had only a five-year encounter
with the Speech & Hearing
Center; however, it would not have come to pass without her. We
will continue to honor her legacy and support her initiative for
the years ahead. Mrs. Barrett had a good spirit and we believe
her spirit helps drive the Center’s mission within this community. |
