The Scottish Rite has provided speech, language and hearing therapy services to needy children throughout the United States as part of their charity services since the 1950s. The Louisiana Scottish Rite Foundation, Inc., was formed and Childhood Learning Centers were established to provide those services to Louisiana’s children. Established Centers operate in Shreveport, Monroe, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Hammond. Diagnostic and therapy services are provided free of cost by the Foundation.

Early detection of speech, language and hearing difficulties with appropriate follow-up therapy services leads to better outcomes. Communication and language are the foundations of social interaction and learning throughout life. The Southwestern Regional Scottish Rite Childhood Learning Center and the UL Lafayette Speech, Language and Hearing Center are dedicated to providing evaluations and therapy services for children as well as education and training for families and caretakers.

Qualifying children between the ages of 18 months and 10 years of age with suspected speech, language, hearing or literacy difficulties are eligible for services.
Therapy sessions are scheduled twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, for 30-50 minutes each.

All clinic services are operated in conjunction with the UL Lafayette Speech, Language and Hearing Center in the Department of Communicative Disorders. Graduate students completing requirements for the Masters Degree and certification work directly with licensed and certified speech/language therapists in providing clinical and therapy services. The goal of the Southwestern Regional Scottish Rite Childhood Learning Center is to have therapy services completed in a 2 year period.

For more information or an application form, contact the Center at (337) 428-6490.