May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

May is recognized as Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM), and Holzer joins with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to raise awareness, with new resources from the Identify the Signs campaign available to educate the public about the early signs of communication disorders and how early detection can help.

This year’s BHSM theme is “Communication Disorders Are Treatable” and the awareness efforts highlight four weekly topics, including newborn hearing screening and follow up, noise-induced hearing loss in children, communication issues related to autism, and language and literacy. Technology is always developing for individuals who are hearing impaired, for example, something similar to hearing amplifier among the new resources from the Identify the Signs campaign: a Twitter party hosted by parenting blogger Michele McGraw (@scrappinmichele) on May 20 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM EDT. ASHA experts will be on hand to discuss early detection of speech and hearing disorders in children, and four topical podcasts related to the weekly BHSM themes, which include:

-Week 1: Newborn Hearing Screening – Dr. Patti Martin, Director of Audiology and Speech Pathology, Arkansas Children’s Hospital
-Week 2: Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children – Dr. Jessica Rossi-Katz, Associate Professor of Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences, Metropolitan State University of Denver
-Week 3: Autism Diagnosis and Treatment – Dr. Patricia Prelock, Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Vermont
-Week 4: Building Language and Literacy Skills During the Summer – Lyndsey Zurawski, Speech-Language Pathologist,
Palm Beach County, Florida school district

ASHA encourages the public to sign the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights to help bring attention to people with communication disorders and the professional care available.

For further information about the early warning signs of communication disorders and where to go for help visit IdentifyTheSigns.org.

Holzer offers Audiology and Speech Therapy Services for those individuals affected by hearing and/or speech disorders. For more information on the services Holzer provides, please visit www.holzer.org or call 1-855-4-HOLZER.