Million Ear Challenge

As many of you know, our son JQ was born deaf. At 18 months JQ received his first cochlear implant and for the first time, our son could hear our voices. At 8 JQ received his second cochlear implant and he continues to thrive. The Hearing loss community has been very important to us and JQ's progress.

May is Better Hearing & Speech Month. The Million Ear Challenge is an effort to increase awareness of hearing loss and advanced hearing solutions. In May, Cochlear is challenging the public to help spread the word about hearing loss and hearing loss solutions to 1 million people in 31 days. We want to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in this effort and inspire others to help change the lives of those who may be struggling with hearing loss.

This challenge is important because when we reach our goal of spreading the word to 1 million people, we’ll celebrate the achievement by donating Cochlear implant parts and accessories to not-for-profits to help support people in need.

So tweet, retweet. Post, share, and repost. Use the Hashtag #MillionEar

Like Cochlear’s Facebook Page and follow Cochlear on Twitter.

Hearing Loss Statistics
- Hearing loss is the 2nd most prevalent global health issue, affecting more than those with Parkinson’s, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and diabetes combined.
- Almost 50 million Americans have hearing loss. The number is expected to double by 2030.

References:
[1] Hearing Health Foundation. Hearing Loss & Tinnitus Statistics [Internet]. 2016 [cited 23 February 2016]. Available from: http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/statistics.
[2] Hearing Health Foundation. Preventing Hearing Loss [Internet]. 2016 [cited 23 February 2016]. Available from: http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/preventing-hearing-loss.