Around the age of 3 and a half, my parents started noticing that I was always turning my right ear to the person speaking. Something wasn’t right. I was not reacting to sounds the way the typical hearing child should. My parents took me to my pediatrician who referred us to an audiologist. On September 28, 2000, at age 4, I was diagnosed with bilateral moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss and immediately fitted with hearing aids.
Elizabeth Keithley, Ph.D., Honored With HHF Award
In October 2019, HHF awarded Elizabeth “Betsy” Keithley, Ph.D., a longtime Board of Directors member and chair emerita, its inaugural Collette Ramsey Baker Leadership Award. Keithley was honored for her decades of dedication to HHF, starting with the review of Emerging Research Grants proposals in the 1990s.
You Put Better Hearing Health in Reach
In 2019, HHF funded 21 major research projects, and our grantees published significant findings to advance our knowledge of TMC1 gene therapy delivery, the connections between tinnitus and hearing loss, the mechanics of speech processing, the diagnostics of Ménière's disease, and more. We could not be here without you.
Meet Braden Baker: How One Kid Raised Thousands for People in Need of Hearing Aids
It all started with Braden’s dog, Chewy, who chewed up a then 10-year-old Braden’s expensive hearing aids one warm, June night in 2017—for the second time. Born with a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, Braden, a now 13-year-old Fort Worth, Texas native, has worn hearing aids since he was seven months old. It turns out, Chewy has expensive taste as custom hearing aids can run from $1,000 to a whopping $6,000 dollars per pair.
Have a Hearing Loss, in the Hospital?
Hospitals are full of older patients who are often hard of hearing, and data suggests that this affects healthcare outcomes. A study of patients in the Medicare system, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 2018, compared readmission rates of patients who self-reported hearing loss with those who did not.
Watch This New Captioned Video from Our Hearing Restoration Project (HRP)
In October, the Scientific Director of Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)’s Hearing Restoration Project (HRP), Peter Barr-Gillespie, Ph.D., was the keynote speaker of The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS)’s “Hearing Restoration and Hair Cell Regeneration,” a symposium to connect internationally recognized hearing loss experts from academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations.
Equality for All: Understanding Disability Discrimination in the Workplace
Unfortunately, disability discrimination in the workplace is a valid concern. According to the Washington Post, out of 252,599 closed cases of medical or disability discrimination, 21 percent received relief, and 2 percent had a discrimination finding.
Listening to The Story
I have some significant memories from childhood that have remained with me and influenced who I am today. One of my most special memories is of practicing speech and auditory therapy with my younger brother, Alex. Alex was born with hearing loss, so my mom and dad intervened early to ensure his future success with not only hearing, but also speech.
Hearing Loss to Hearing Recovery: My Detour-Filled Journey
No one anticipates a life-altering experience when you’re a college student living a seemingly carefree life with minimal interruptions, enjoying your youth, and spending most mornings sleeping in and watching SportsCenter. This is the typical college student life I envisioned, but it wasn’t the one I lived.
Your Giving Tuesday Opportunity
HHF’s work to better treat and cure hearing loss helps millions, like Frank, of New Jersey, who has lived with hearing loss since age 2 and is an advocate for hearing health. "I support HHF to help us find our sound," he says.