May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month, a time to raise awareness about hearing health, communication disorders, and available treatment options that can improve the quality of life for those affected. Did you know that approximately 43,000,000 people in the United States have communication disorders? This means they have problems with speech, voice, language, and/or hearing.

Speech disorders include not being able to say a sound correctly, stuttering, and voice problems. Language disorders include having a limited vocabulary, using grammar or syntax incorrectly, and having poor social skills. Hearing loss includes physical issues with the ear canal, middle ear, inner ear, or auditory nerve.

Males are more likely to have speech, language, and/or hearing disorders than females. 10 percent of children have moderate to severe communication impairments. By first grade, about 5 percent of children have speech disorders. More than 3,000,000 Americans stutter or have a fluency disorder—males are three times more likely to be affected than females. Children with speech or language impairments are four to five times more likely than their peers to have other learning disabilities including significant reading problems. Autism affects approximately 400,000 individuals in the United States—males are three to four times more likely than females to have an autism spectrum disorder.

The National Association for Hearing and Speech Action (NAHSA) announced today that starting in 2024, May will be recognized as National Speech-Language-Hearing Month instead of Better Hearing and Speech Month, which NAHSA—the consumer affiliate of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)—initiated in 1972. Let's continue to raise awareness and advocate for individuals with communication disorders. #BetterHearingandSpeechMonth #CommunicationDisordersAwareness #HearingHealth