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.
