Thousands of individuals participate in weekend sign language convention. Read more about the convention.

Link: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Thousands-Participate-in-Sign-Langage-Convention-164059186.html

A Taunton mom was among a group of advocates who pushed for a children’s
hearing aid bill that was approved last week by the Legislature and is
now under review as Gov. Deval Patrick decides on whether to sign it
into law.

Known as House Bill
No. 52 and titled “An Act to Provide Access to Hearing Aids for
Children,” the bill has been kicked around in the State House for three
legislative sessions. If signed into law, it would mandate that private
health insurers provide coverage for up to $2,000 of the cost of any
single hearing aid for minors up to the age of 21 every 36 months.

Link: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x739403771/Taunton-mom-played-key-role-in-getting-children-s-hearing-aid-approved-by-Legislature#ixzz22svD2pCg

ASHA brings up an important recent memo to state education
chiefs/superintendents, with the U.S. Department of Education indicating
that it WOULD implement sequestration requirements for school year
2013-14. This memo is the Department’s first
official explanation of how it plans to implement automatic spending
cuts required under the Budget Control Act (BCA) and set to go into
effect on January 3, 2013.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-american-speech-language-hearing-association/us-department-of-education-tells-states-not-to-expect-sequestration-cuts-for-thi/10150924067177735

A third of children who survive meningitis will be left with “devastating” long-term conditions, new research suggests.
Sufferers were five times more likely to have a significant hearing impairment, with 2.4% of survivors having bilateral hearing loss which required a cochlear implant.

One in three youngsters who are treated for the disease will suffer
after-effects including mental health problems, epilepsy and learning
difficulties, the study found. Young survivors are five times more
likely to have speech and communication problems, according to research
from University College London (UCL).

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/meningitis-effects-harming-children-8004671.html

In one remote community, figures show more than 94 per cent of children in grades one to three have some form of hearing loss. The community is not, like you might think, in a third world country but in WA’s North West.

It’s a figure which
appals Harvey Coates, a paediatric ENT surgeon who has spent the past
35 years travelling to remote areas to treat a disease which has hit
more than 100,000 people; the majority of them Aboriginal children.

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-06/hearing-loss-in-remote-communities-feature/4179712?section=wa

Delaware Gov. Markell says he will sign two bills providing services for people with hearing and speech disabilities. One bill provides telecommunications services for the deaf and those
with hearing loss or speech disabilities. The other updates the
Universal Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening Act. The update requires a
tracking and intervention protocol when a child has been identified as
needing additional hearing services. It also creates the Early Hearing
Detection and Intervention Advisory Board.

Link: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8760385

“Can You Hear Me Now?” is amusing when parodied in a cell phone
commercial, but there’s nothing funny when an audiologist asks that
question in real life, especially when the answer is “no.” Hearing loss
is a genuine problem in our community and
across the nation, and it is not just a result of aging. According to
the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), while one out of three
people aged 65 or older have hearing problems, approximately two to
three children out of every 1,000 are hard of hearing or deaf.

So prevalent, it is now the third most common physical condition after
arthritis and heart disease, and can be caused by exposure to noise,
infection or earwax buildup, structural changes that occur due to aging
or injury, and even as a side effect of a medication.

Link: http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0611/Hearing-Loss-is-Prevalent-and-No-Laughing-Matter.html

ABC7 News revisits CEID, a deaf school and takes a look at its success in total communication after the school reaches over 30 years of offering services to deaf children. The CEID school works to explore all avenues of communication for deaf children including a focus in sign language and also listening and spoken language. Watch the video of this news story by clicking on this link or by following the read more link.

Link: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8758721

As with most public policies, CRPD is a complicated topic. AG Bell recently expressed it’s
support of the ratification of CRPD as part of the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Alliance, a coalition of 15 national organizations representing
consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing,
educators and educational administrators for children who are deaf or
hard of hearing and the professionals that support them. You can learn
more about their position statement by following the read more link.

Link: http://www.listeningandspokenlanguage.org/CRPD.aspx

Accountable
care, value-based purchasing, outcomes measurement — what does it all
mean for speech-language pathologists and audiologists?

Link: http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2012/120731/Health-Care-Change-Ahead.htm?utm_source=asha&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_campaign=080112ll