Awakening OHL Community

Here we are in the middle of 2005 and members of the oral hearing loss (OHL) community are still pretty much ignored by agencies and organizations that provide services to the DeafAndHardOfHearing. There are complex reasons for this reality, and we'll need to consider them all as we forge a solution. The result of this reality is all too clear: OHL folks are woefully ignorant of the techniques and technologies that can help them deal with their hearing loss.

But this is all starting to change! Our very noisy society is taking its toll on the everyone's hearing. Several years ago audiologists began reporting that significant numbers of people in their forties were developing hearing loss. Now they're talking about people in their twenties and thirties - and even high school kids!

I think the old guideline that 10% of the population has hearing loss woefully understates the incidence in today's world. As people begin to realize the realities of hearing loss, they (led by the baby boomers) will be demanding services to help them deal with their disability. This is the core of the Awakening OHL Community. 

Here's what's going on in the national arena.