ommuication is a fundamental aspect of human development and it

continues as such throughout life. We communicate in a multitude of ways, a smile, a handshake, a lullaby. We have the language of love, body language, the language of poetry which, like that of poet E.E. Cummings ¹, is often cryptic and ambiguous. Every bit of it open to interpretation and, we have to work at understanding. Perhaps one our greatest communications challenges comes when we encounter what is to us a foreign language. The need to communicate may be imperative, the experience frustrating if not maddening. Consider, then, the struggle for the deaf and hearing impaired of any culture, trying to communicate in even their own native language. Every bit open to interpretation and mis-understanding, on either side. We really do need to work at it . . .

Approximately 28 million people in America have some form of hearing loss. More than two-thirds of this number over age 45, and approximately one third have been affected, at least in part, by noise.

Nearly 1 child in 1,000 has early onset sensorineural (inner ear, structural) hearing loss to the extent that it impedes normal language acquisition. And nearly 20% percent of workable hearing aids lie in dresser drawers, amounting to hundreds of thousands of unused aids.

The numbers tell the story, and they are not unique to the United States. In the interest of strengthening families experiencing hearing loss and to create awareness and attention within the global society, it is our goal to present timely and useful information on prevention, education, acceptance, and accommodation on behalf of those who are deaf and hearing impaired.

  ¹   Click here for more on E. E. Cummings.