Greetings! 

Undiagnosed at birth and for several years thereafter, Laura* experienced her early years through lip-reading. At age three after many misdiagnoses, ranging from attention deficit disorder to learning disabilities, she was eventually properly diagnosed with moderate to severe bilateral high-frequency hearing loss and has been wearing hearing aids in both ears ever since. Here's one of Laura's school experiences:

Every year in school a teacher would say to me, "Just tell me what you missed and I'll repeat." This statement always baffled me because if I had known what I had missed, then I wouldn't need them to repeat! To help me "fill in the blanks," my teachers would wear a personal amplification unit, or FM System, to amplify what they were saying.

However, frequently teachers must face away from the students to write on the chalkboard. This meant I couldn't lip-read and the teacher's voice was going away from me, while the sound of the writing on the chalkboard was being amplified. Amplification is not the same as clarity, and while I was able to hear more with than without my FM system, amplification was by no means a perfect solution. Frankly, it was exhausting, in every way imaginable.

As a person progresses in school, keeping up with the academics can be hard for any student; for someone with hearing loss, it can be mentally, physically and emotionally draining.

Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) needs your help to ensure we continue the Hearing Restoration Project research toward a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus. HHF is also committed to supporting a wide range of innovative emerging research grants.

Your children, friends and family should not feel isolated and exhausted from the extra effort that listening requires, even with assistive devices. We need YOU to make the dream of listening to clear and unmuffled speech a reality. Please donate today.