Mark Your Calendar: May Is Better Hearing and Speech Month
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM)! This annual event provides opportunities to raise awareness about communication disorders and to promote treatment that can improve the quality of life for those who experience problems with speaking, understanding, or hearing. During this month there is a major push to screen people for hearing loss and speech habilitation, some participating organizations team up to offer free or reduced price hearing tests and assistance in obtaining hearing aids. May is the best time of the month to remind patients to have a hearing test. If you do not do hearing testing in your office, you may want to direct patients to screening sites in your area via Academy ENTlink website: www.entnet.org. The number of Americans with a hearing loss seems to have doubled during the past 30 years. Data from Federal surveys illustrate the following trend of prevalence of hearing loss for individuals aged three years or older: 13.2 million (1971), 14.2 million (1977), 20.3 million (1991), and 24.2 million (1993). An independent researcher estimates that 28.6 million Americans had an auditory disorder in 2000.” The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) provide helpful statistics on voice, speech and language: Approximately 7.5 million people in the United States have trouble using their voices. The prevalence of speech sound disorders in young children is eight to nine percent. By the first grade, roughly five percent of children have noticeable speech disorders; the majority of these speech disorders have no known cause. Between six and eight million people in the United States have some form of language impairment. Anyone can acquire aphasia (a loss of the ability to use or understand language), but most people who have aphasia are in their middle to late years. Men and women are equally affected. It is estimated that approximately 80,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year. About one million persons in the United States currently have aphasia. The Media and Public Relations Committee will observe BHSM in May. Please visit the Academy’s website in April at http://www.entnet.org/AboutUs/publicCampaigns.cfm for helpful tips and resources that you can share with your patients and the public. For more information on ASHA, visit http://www.asha.org/.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM)! This annual event provides opportunities to raise awareness about communication disorders and to promote treatment that can improve the quality of life for those who experience problems with speaking, understanding, or hearing.
During this month there is a major push to screen people for hearing loss and speech habilitation, some participating organizations team up to offer free or reduced price hearing tests and assistance in obtaining hearing aids. May is the best time of the month to remind patients to have a hearing test.
If you do not do hearing testing in your office, you may want to direct patients to screening sites in your area via Academy ENTlink website: www.entnet.org.
The number of Americans with a hearing loss seems to have doubled during the past 30 years. Data from Federal surveys illustrate the following trend of prevalence of hearing loss for individuals aged three years or older: 13.2 million (1971), 14.2 million (1977), 20.3 million (1991), and 24.2 million (1993). An independent researcher estimates that 28.6 million Americans had an auditory disorder in 2000.”
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) provide helpful statistics on voice, speech and language:
- Approximately 7.5 million people in the United States have trouble using their voices.
- The prevalence of speech sound disorders in young children is eight to nine percent. By the first grade, roughly five percent of children have noticeable speech disorders; the majority of these speech disorders have no known cause.
- Between six and eight million people in the United States have some form of language impairment.
- Anyone can acquire aphasia (a loss of the ability to use or understand language), but most people who have aphasia are in their middle to late years. Men and women are equally affected. It is estimated that approximately 80,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year. About one million persons in the United States currently have aphasia.
The Media and Public Relations Committee will observe BHSM in May. Please visit the Academy’s website in April at http://www.entnet.org/AboutUs/publicCampaigns.cfm for helpful tips and resources that you can share with your patients and the public. For more information on ASHA, visit http://www.asha.org/.