October is National Audiology Awareness Month

The Texas Hearing Institute has issued the following press release:

(HOUSTON, TX, Oct. 1, 2021) Texas Hearing Institute celebrates National Audiology Awareness Month by reminding parents to visit their child’s pediatric audiologist for routine checkups and to teach proper hearing health for a lifetime of sound.

Hearing and speech are essential tools for learning, playing and developing social skills. Children learn to communicate by imitating sounds they hear, so undetected and untreated hearing loss can lead to delays in speech and language, social problems and/or academic difficulties.

More than 90% of children diagnosed with hearing loss are born to parents with typical hearing, and about half of all children with hearing loss do not have risk factors. Thus, early intervention becomes crucial for children with hearing loss.

Common signs of hearing loss in babies include not being startled by loud sounds, appearing to hear some sounds but not others, not turning toward sound after six months of age, and/or only turning toward a speaker when they are visible.

As children grow older, temporary and permanent hearing problems can begin to develop because of infections, injuries, or prolonged exposure to loud sounds. It is important for parents to continuously look for signs of hearing loss as their children grow up to mitigate any long-term damage to hearing.

One way to maintain healthy hearing is by avowing and limiting the degree and duration of exposure to loud sounds. The simplest way to protect your hearing is to wear hearing protection like earplugs when around sounds above 85 decibels.

If someone you know is showing signs of hearing loss, please don’t wait to act. The pediatric audiologists at Texas Hearing Institute can help identify the type of hearing loss, the severity of hearing loss and make recommendations based on each family’s communication goals.

###About Texas Hearing Institute: The nationally renowned Texas Hearing Institute, formerly known as The Center for Hearing and Speech, is the most comprehensive pediatric hearing loss facility in Texas, and the only one in southern Texas that offers health services, spoken language education, family services, and ENT’s for children with hearing loss under one roof. Children from more than 44 counties and all socioeconomic levels come to Texas Hearing Institute, where no child is turned away regardless of their family’s ability to pay. For more information, visit www.texashearing.org.