The point is that manufacturers are making toys that can make our children deaf.   When I was growing up all those years ago, I had no idea that noise causes hearing loss.   Today we know that one in 8 students has a measurable hearing loss because of the high volumes they’re exposed to.  We’ve learned that every age group is slammed with surround sound at the movies, amplified concerts and noisy restaurants.  So today there are 35 million Americans of all ages with hearing loss.

And now, this year especially, I’m reading about our toddlers at risk.  Noisy toys’ll do it.  In fact you can google ‘loud toys at Amazon’ for good deals and a store in Los Angeles that features drums and percussion called ‘Noisy Toys.’   I’m beyond amazed that manufacturers are not required to put a decibel number on those toys.  There’s simply no protection for our infants and toddlers who love to put those screaming siren sounds right up to their ears.

What can we do?  For now, it would seem we’re on our own to determine how decibel appropriate a toy sound is.  I got my first decibel meter at Radio Shack for $50 — it’s easy and fun to use and you can bet I’ll be using it to check out the sound levels of toys under the tree.  Awareness is a beginning until we can convince toy makers to help their shoppers shop smart.

For more information on hearing loss in America and community service projects that will increase local awareness, see our Empowerment Through Hearing site: www.hearingconnection.org.  And read about our book, ‘Listen Up!” www.listenupkids.com, published in 2008 and found in schools throughout Palm Beach County.

I saw tons of opportunities to include ways to educate students about causes of hearing loss and ways to prevent it.  In addition, there was a ballroom filled with booths that advertised products and projects designed to make life more well-rounded, manageable and fun for our students.

As founder and president of Empowerment Through Hearing (ETH), I spoke about my own progressive hearing loss, my subsequent cochlear implant and the cool community service projects that ETH has introduced into our area…all in the name of increasing awareness.   My own experience supports the facts that hearing loss can cause isolation, depression and even thoughts of suicide.  It causes dis-ease in the body that makes us vulnerable to debilitating conditions like cancer.  In short, hearing loss deserves our immediate attention and in this epidemic stage is a threat to the well-being of America. 

Please tell your family and friends that hearing loss is a common condition — over 35 million Americans — in people of all ages.  It’s preventable and it’s manageable if we get smart and get tested!

See more about this critical issue on our website: www.hearingconnection.org and read about it in ‘Listen Up!’ the book we published and placed in schools throughout Palm Beach County: www.listenupkids.com.

Just about every rock musician has been a victim.  Ditto astronauts and construction workers.  Even those who work with sirens have it.

What do they all have in common?

They’ve lost their precious hearing because of close proximity to loud noise.

So, the next time you see a person with ear phones, drive by a busy construction site, pass a person on a motorcycle without a helmet or catch a movie with surround sound, just remember that people could be losing their hearing in front of your eyes.

 Hearing loss needs to be dragged out of the closet.  If more performers, parents, teachers and youth knew they needed to protect their hearing now so they don’t have to wear hearing aids later, billions of dollars wouldn’t have to be spent on special devices, products and services.  We are hoping that you – by communicating this with family and friends – could be Ambassadors of Information on Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).

Because of loud music at concerts and extreme noise from other sources like headphones, MP3-players and blasting speakers, many of our children are losing their hearing at an early age.  One in eight now suffers from NIHL.  Many are misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder or labeled as troubled simply because they didn’t respond appropriately to an adult.

Often, these kids can’t hear whispers from their friends, assignments from their teachers or sports plays in huddles.  And with hearing loss comes depression, a sense of isolation and even thoughts of suicide.  

But all of this is preventable!

Please encourage those you care about to “pack plugs” when they are going to an event with loud noises.  Keep them in your pocket, your purse or your car.

Much like using sun block to prevent skin cancer down the road, protecting yourself from loud noises can greatly protect your hearing in the future.  Turn down the volume around you and those that you love.

 Join me in reminding America to “Listen Up!” now so they don’t have to “Turn it Up” later.

“Everyday I work with young people who have severe hearing loss, and the one thing we find is that many of them could have been prevented. I always wonder why taking care of our hearing isn’t highlighted as much as the other very real issues facing (young people) today. Important issues like peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and adolescent obesity.

We work and play in a world of wonderful gadgets that we are discovering for the first time. Most people don’t even know what effects these emerging technologies will have on our hearing in the years to come. The thing most people are shocked by, when they’re sitting in my office and the damage is done, is that many forms of hearing damage are preventable.”

I was in so much denial about my hearing loss that I didn’t even want to discuss causes and prevention. Today, we know that noise is a big factor and that protecting our ears from high decibel noise helps prevent hearing loss.

Empowerment Through Hearing published ‘Listen Up!’ to help warn young people about the alarming increase of hearing loss caused by noise. As founder of this nonprofit, it was my mission to save others the years of pain and denial I went through growing up with this condition.

There are certainly better protection products out there now than I ever knew about while I was growing up. In 2006, there was praise for Apple’s new iPod volume control, http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/03/apple_volume.html. Today there’s everything from inexpensive foam ear plugs in rainbow colors to sophisticated custom ear molds. In addition, we’ve come across the iHearSafe earbuds and headphones that keeps volume below 85 db, where the damage can begin.

Have you got any cool ways to protect your hearing? Any new products you’ve heard about? Let me know…

Write soon. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kathlyn

http://www.youtube.com/user/hearingconnection

http://www.hearingconnection.org/hearing_loss_video.html

Kathlyn Maguire - Founder, Empowerment Through Hearing

I suppose I should make some bow to the New Year; but let’s just say that I did and get right into the reason I’m sitting at this computer on a nationally-proclaimed holiday, while all my neighbors are out enjoying the fruits of a sunny 74-degree Thursday:
.
35 million Americans suffer from hearing loss — that includes 1 in 8 students — so it’s hard to believe this condition remains so personalized.  I can only tell you from my own experience through decades of hearing loss that I didn’t want to acknowledge it.  I thought it was a ‘disability’ reserved for the old folks and I did everything I could to stay in denial.   I really didn’t think I had a hearing loss per se because I could hear the sound of a voice, music or background noise, but it became increasingly difficult to understand all the words.  I was famous for singing the wrong lyrics to popular rock in the 60’s.  I was a pretty good lip reader and thought I could get the general gist of most conversations.   But  too often  my comments were totally unrelated to the subject at hand —  this would send friends into a paroxysm of giggles and me into increased isolation.   I lived in New York City, where the walk and talk are fast-paced.   So it was double-tough to keep up with what everyone was saying.