Every year the American Girl company honors an inspirational girl by creating a new doll in their lineup of inspirational characters. This year, the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is partnering with American Girl to create the 2020 Girl of the Year, Joss Kendrick. Joss Kendrick is an athlete that loves surfing and competitive cheerleading, and also wears a hearing aid.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated by everyone. Whether you are a toddler walking around trick-or-treating for the very first time or you are watching your grandchildren get dressed in spooky costumes, Halloween is a fun celebration shared with friends and family. Halloween is just a few short weeks away, and you may already see neighbors decorating their yards with huge, inflatable ghosts. Halloween night you will see groups of children, teenagers, and even adults dressed as their favorite characters, witches, zombies, and princesses. It is a holiday beloved by many.

Many people think that hearing aids are only for those with significant hearing loss. Beck et al (2018) reported that in addition to the 37 million Americans with audiometric hearing loss, 26 million have hearing difficulty and/or difficulty understanding speech in noise (SIN) even when passing normal clinical thresholds.

Today’s children are busier than ever and are constantly surrounded by distractions. Communicating with children can be challenging, more so when the child has a hearing loss. As a caregiver, there are times that can be very frustrating when you can’t get your child’s attention or difficulties having your child understand you. There are things you can do to help make communicating with your hearing impaired child easier.

When a young child wears hearing aids, how do you know that they are hearing everything they should be in the classroom and socially? Children, more than adults, often get distracted and don’t pay attention when someone is talking to them or the group they are a part of.