HELP TEXAS HEAR

Did you know that in Texas many private insurance companies consider hearing aids for children “cosmetic” and therefore refuse to cover them?   

The Center for Hearing and Speech and the thousands of families we serve each year know that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Access to sound through hearing aids is critical to children with hearing loss so they can learn to listen, speak and read.   

This year, House Bill 2979, was introduced in the Texas Legislature to ensure that all children with hearing loss have access to hearing aids.  Sadly, the bill did not make it to the top for a vote before the session ended in May.   

The Texas Legislature couldn’t help our children, but together Texans CAN!

The Center for Hearing and Speech (CHS) is launching a state-wide campaign to raise money to help children with hearing loss. We need your support to create a fund to help families afford this vital technology and expand the CHS loaner hearing aid program. 

WANT TO DONATE? CLICK THE GREEN BOX.

WANT TO START YOUR OWN FUNDRAISER? CLICK THE ORANGE BOX.

THE FACTS

Sixteen percent of children have hearing loss by the age of 19.

• Last year, 2% of infants (more than 1,100 children) in Texas were born with permanent hearing loss. Hearing loss remains the nation’s number one birth defect, a disability that causes problems in communication development. 

• An additional 14% of children will develop permanent hearing loss before adulthood

Many private insurance companies in Texas consider hearing aids “cosmetic” and do not offer any coverage for them.

• A typical hearing aid costs between $1,000 - $4,000

• The sad result is that families (with jobs and private insurance) struggle to afford this essential equipment for their child…equipment that is the difference between a life of silence and a world of sound. 

Without access to sound and intervention, childhood hearing loss limits language, social skill and literacy development.

• 37% of children with hearing loss fail one or more grades

• Many deaf children who do not learn spoken language acquire only a 3rd grade reading level, compared to their oral-education peers

THE HELP TEXAS HEAR FUND

Your donation to the Help Texas Hear Fund will:

1. Purchase loaner hearing aids. 

CHS currently has a limited supply of loaner hearing aids to offer babies 0 – 18 months through a grant from The Houston Scottish Rite Masons. Additional funding would allow CHS to expand the program so that not a minute of sound is wasted and children can be immediately amplified when they are diagnosed.

2. Offer discounted hearing aids.

Parents never expect for their child to have a hearing loss and 90% of babies born deaf have hearing parents.  The fund will discount hearing aids. Who qualifies? Families who have private insurance that does not cover hearing aids.  Your support will make sure families do not have to make a gut-wrenching decisions of whether their child can hear based on how much they have in their saving account. 

3. Provide audiology services to fit the hearing aids and train the families on use and care.

Once the hearing aid is purchased, audiologists need to fit and test the hearing aids as well as provide training for the device. The Center staffs six Doctoral Audiologists who specialize in working with children.

WHO IS THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH?

In 1947, four parents founded The Houston School for Deaf Children to provide an oral communication option for their deaf children.  Throughout the years, it has grown from a small school to The Center for Hearing and Speech, the most comprehensive oral communication facility in the region for children with mild to profound hearing loss. 

The Center’s clinical, education and family support programs demonstrate a commitment to enable children to reach their full potential by teaching them listening, speaking and literacy skills. Last year, the Center served 8,561 children from 227 ZIP codes and 27 counties in Texas.  

VISION

The Center for Hearing and Speech envisions a community where all children with hearing loss will be identified early, families will have access to medical and educational resources, and professionals will provide a supportive environment where self-reliance through listening and spoken language is achieved. 

No gift is too small. 

With a population of over 26 million:

• If 1% of Texans gave $1  → enough funding to help at least 65 children

• If 1% of Texans gave $5 →   enough to help at least 325 children

We need you to be in that 1%!  

All donations are tax deductible.

Do hearing aids help? Meet Iris and see the proof of early intervention for babies with hearing loss: