A discussion on the influence of education, schools families and Communities in the evolution of Auslan

Hearing loss is prevelant. While many of the statistics I quote are Australian, research indicates that these statistics apply to most countries. All you need to do to is multiply the percentage by your country’s population to find the number of people.

Not many people realise that losing your hearing can have a major impact on your general health and in particular your mental health

Many younger people are putting their hearing health at risk. It is not occasional exposure to loud noise which will cause long term damage. It is regular and prolonged exposure. DONT turn it down. Take a break for your hearing health

At the 5th Australian National Deafness Summit in Canberra during May 2008 I was astounded to hear some of the statistics on the increase in prevelance of deafness. While the statistics I quote are for the Australian market they apply to all markets.

Hearing loss impacts on individuals, their families, friends and colleagues. But hearing loss also has an impact on the wider community.

Subtitles and captions both deliver at least the speech content of a visual medium. Captions may provide more information but subtitles will help a hearing impaired person get a better quality experience from viewing television, movies or DVDS.

For those of us who have experienced late on-set deafness our lives have been turned upside down. Everything familiar has become strange because we can no longer interpret the world as we know it and we don’t know where we fit.

When deafness strikes later in life it is hard, however the impact of deafness is not just felt by the person who has lost their hearing because family members and friends often suffer.

For some people ordinary sounds are extraordinary. May is Better Speech and Hearing month in the USA. It is the month when focus is on educating the public about speech and hearing disorders, promoting treatment and understanding for people who my need it.