Fun Facts

The Prevalence and Incidence of Hearing Loss in Children (from http://www.helpkidshear.org/facts/index.html)

• About 34 million people in the U.S. have some degree of reduced hearing sensitivity. Of this number, 80% have irreversible hearing loss and 6 million of the 34 million are profoundly deaf.
• Over 1 million children in the U.S. have a hearing loss.
• 5% of children 18 years and under have hearing loss.
• 1 in 22 infants born in the U.S. has some kind of hearing problem.
• 6 in every 1000 infants born in the U.S. has some degree of hearing loss.
• 1 in every 1000 infants born in the U.S. has a severe or profound hearing loss.
• 83 out of every 1000 children in the U.S. have what is termed an educationally significant hearing loss.
• Among every 1000 school-age students in the U.S., 7 have bilateral and 16-19 have unilateral hearing losses that may significantly interfere with their education.
• Among school age children, severe to profound hearing loss occurs in about 9 children of every 1000.
• 10 in 1000 school age students have permanent sensorineural hearing loss.
• Approximately 30% of children who are hard of hearing have a disability in addition to a hearing loss.