TLC’s Badavas Parent-Infant Program, a specialty early intervention provider, was the first in the country to employ a Deaf director, and continues this tradition under its current leadership.  

TLC’s Pre-K through 12 program (now Marie Philip School) was the first school in Massachusetts to incorporate ASL and English.  Today, MPS embraces bilingual/bicultural education as its educational philosophy. This model reframes the deaf child as a whole person with an identity and belonging and provides rich access to visual language (moving away from the typical medical/pathological model).

The Walden School was the first program of its kind to offer services in a Deaf culturally affirming environment with more than 50% of the staff being deaf and all staff fluent in ASL. The program has received regional and national recognition in the fields of Deaf education, children’s mental health, and child welfare services for its successful strength-based model of treatment.

TLC’s Public School Partnerships program (PSP) addresses the specific needs of students with hearing aids and cochlear implants in educational settings throughout the state, providing a support system for monitoring deaf and hard of hearing students’ academic and developmental progress. 

TLC also offers wraparound support services through Walden Community Services at TLC, the first and only children’s behavioral health initiative I provider specialized in serving deaf children and families across the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  

TLC offers fee-based community interpreting services and consultation for local businesses, schools, and local and state agencies.  

TLC’s Center for Research and Training consults and collaborates with organizations, universities, schools, districts, and states to promote effective instructional practices and assessment in American Sign Language and English.  

Our Deaf Cultural Center, located in a historic building on our campus, celebrates Deaf history and culture.