Better Speech & Hearing Month (BSHM)
May 25, 2009 by Karianne Wilkins
Filed under Recent Articles, Speech & Language Therapy
The month of May is Better Speech and Hearing Month (BSHM), which was started by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) to raise awareness about communication disorders and to promote treatment that can improve quality of life for people experiencing difficulty hearing, understanding, or speaking.
Hearing loss can be caused by genetic factors, illness, and even ototoxic drugs (drugs that damage hearing). But now one of the biggest concerns is the rapid increase in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) in children, mainly due to headphones from portable music players and other similar devices. NIHL is painless and caused by exposure to loud sounds, usually over a period of time. Occasionally NIHL can occur from only one exposure to an extremely loud noise. Some examples of noise producers are personal headphones attached to games and portable music devices (the volume is too loud if you can hear music coming from the device), household appliances, musical instruments, toys, power tools, lawn equipment, and concerts.
You Know An Environment Is Too Loud When:
- You have to raise your voice to be heard.
- You have a hard time hearing someone only 2-3 feet away.
- You have ringing or buzzing in your ears, or another person’s speech sounds muffled to you.
What You Can Do To Prevent NIHL:
- Avoid or limit exposure to loud noises.
- Protect your hearing. (Ear plugs and ear muffs can reduce noise by 15-30 dB if worn properly.)
- Teach your children good hearing habits such as keeping the volume down (aim for half the volume of the device), limiting listening time, giving ears some quiet time, and knowing when an environment is too loud and may be causing hearing loss.
Hearing loss can cause problems in school, not only academically but socially. The good news is that NIHL is preventable, so talk to your children and educate them about how to protect their hearing. For more information about NIHL for parents and educators, and interactive games for kids, go to ASHA’s Listen To Your Buds!
