What would it be like not to be able to hear or speak?

May is National Speech and Hearing month …..

Speak Well
          Hear Well
                     Live Well

Did you know that 1 in 10 Canadians has a speech, language or hearing problem? Here are some other stats and facts.

• Speech and hearing problems affect tens of thousands of individuals.
• Hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic disability among older adults, behind arthritis and hypertension.
• Approximately 10% of the general population, 20% of those over 65 and 40% of those over 75 (including 80% of nursing home residents) have a significant hearing problem.
• Both the incidence and prevalence of hearing loss increase with age. The onset of adult hearing loss can start as early as the third or fourth decade of life.
• Communication disorders in school-aged children are often misdiagnosed as learning disabilities or behavioural problems and can be very difficult to treat in later years. Children with behavioural problems are ten times more likely than other children to have language disorders.
• An estimated 4% of the preschool population has a significant speech or language disorder.
• An estimated 1% of Canadians and 4% of preschoolers stutter; men are four times more likely to stutter than women.
• A child should use 200 or more words by the time they are 2-3 years old and by the age of 4 half their vocabulary should consist of approximately 2000 words 

 Many people take their ability to communicate for granted until they encounter difficulties and realize how essential it is to their daily life. Speech and Hearing Month is an opportunity to promote public awareness of the important work of Speech - Language pathologist and audiologists and what they do in helping the people of Canada with speech, language and hearing disorders.

To learn more about how to get involved in Speech and Hearing Month, visit www.maymonth.ca.