Our Children May Lose Their Hearing Before Us!
Category : Blog
This is REAL. Our children may be the first generation to lose their hearing before us, their parents! This is not new information & I have been sharing for many, many years. BUT now, it is being reported more often and with mainstream coverage!
FACTS: Prolonged exposure to noises LOUDER than 85 decibels can result in a PERMANENT hearing loss! No matter the device being used, if your child is using earbuds there is an increased risk of hearing loss as the sound is directly in their ear.
Did you know? Children are expected to learn by listening at least 60% of the time in elementary school & 90% of the time in secondary school. We must preserve their hearing! Based on this TODAY SHOW report, 4 children in every class of 20 students has an unidentified hearing loss. This is more than 1 BILLION “young people” at risk for hearing loss.
What can we do? Experts say the best way to protect young ears is to apply the “60/60” rule: Keep the volume on the MP3 player under 60 percent and only listen for a maximum of 60 minutes a day. When using headphones in a noisy environment consider headphones that cover your ears or have a noise cancellation feature rather than turning the sound louder to block out the noise with your earbuds.
Learn more & visit this page with links developed for parents, teachers and children: http://www.asha.org/aud/HearingConservationChildren/ and be sure to visit “It’s a Noisy Planet” and “Listen to Your Buds“!
AND, read the World Health Organization’s report: http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/ASHA/Buds/WHO-Make-Listening-Safe-Campaign-Factsheet.pdf#search=%22what%22
To Watch the video from the Today Show 08/31/15 and read the story: http://www.today.com/health/generation-deaf-doctors-warn-dangers-ear-buds-t41496
If you suspect your child or any family member has a hearing loss, speak to your primary care physician and discuss the benefits or an evaluation with a certified and licensed Audiologist as well as an ENT physician. Consider including a Speech-Language Pathologist into the team as hearing loss can affect various aspects of speech, language, learning and communication.
Contact us for more information!