For those who are deaf and hard of hearing, it’s easy to feel isolated and alone. The truth is, though, that approximately 1 in 10 people in the United States live with some level of hearing loss, and diagnosis and treatment are within reach. For those in Los Angeles County, California, HEAR Center is an innovative non-profit hearing and speech clinic dedicated to their clients, their families and the community.
How Many Californians Are Affected by Hearing Loss?
In the U.S., it is estimated that more than 2.2 million people are considered deaf with millions more dealing with some degree of hearing loss. In California alone, the Office of Deaf Access estimates around 3 million people who are deaf or hard of hearing reside, with over 800,000 of them calling greater Los Angeles and its surrounding counties home.
HEAR Center’s History
HEAR Center is the only non-profit hearing and speech clinic servicing persons in Los Angeles County. At HEAR Center, HEAR stands for Help, Evaluate, Advise, and Resolve. The clinic was established in 1954 by speech therapist and auditory-verbal therapy pioneer Ciwa Griffiths, Ed. D, from her desire to help hearing-impaired youth. Through Dr. Griffith’s experience studying pedaudiology at London’s Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, she learned the importance of early detection and intervention and began the revolutionary practice of fitting babies as young as one month old with hearing aids to their immense benefit.
She used the wildly successful results of this practice to advocate for newborns to be given general hearing tests and helped develop the first neonatal hearing screening program in California. With over 90% of newborns who are deaf being born to parents who are hearing, it is especially important to give families immediate access to resources to help their deaf or hard of hearing child thrive and lead the best life possible.
This Auditory Approach to the treatment of deaf and hard of hearing children has since become the standard in American hospitals, with Dr. Griffith’s HEAR Center being recognized internationally for its exceptional testing and therapy programs.
How HEAR Center Can Help
HEAR Center offers a number of services to its clients and their families. While its roots are in Pediatric Audiology, HEAR Center is fully equipped to handle clients of all ages, including seniors and those who have special needs. HEAR Center’s audiological evaluations can help detect issues and with appropriate amplification, its clients can get on the road to hearing better and communicating more clearly.
There are several components of audiological evaluations. These include testing of speech discrimination, the tympanometry and acoustic reflexes, and otoacoustic emissions. For children being evaluated, there are more specialized forms of assessment, as well. Visual reinforcement audiometry which uses a combination of auditory and visual stimulation may be used for babies and toddlers up to three years old. Conditioned play audiometry asks children to respond to sounds by performing actions and may be used for those over two-and-a-half or three years of age.
If you or someone you love is having issues with hearing, diagnosis and treatment is available. Did you know we have free hearing aid consultations in-person or via zoom? Contact us today to learn more about our services or to make an appointment:
Call or text: (626) 734-6555
Email us at: appointments@hearcenter.org
Chat us: https://direct.lc.chat/13342371/
Also, for more information about our Audiological Evaluations (hearing test) please visit our webpage: https://www.hearcenter.org/services/audiology/