Dear OVV Friends and Family,
In honor of May being ‘Better Hearing & Speech Month’ Ohio Valley Voices (OVV) invites friends and family to receive a free hearing screening! At OVV, we stress the importance of early identification of hearing loss. Please take this opportunity to call OVV and set up your free hearing screening.
Hearing loss can be caused by both genetic and non-genetic factors. About 25% of hearing loss in babies is due to environmental causes such as maternal infections during pregnancy or complications after birth. There are many genes that are involved in hearing and when a gene doesn’t form in the expected manner it causes a mutation. About 70% of all mutations that cause hearing loss are non-syndromic, meaning no other symptoms are present. Over 50% of hearing loss in babies is due to genetic causes.
At OVV, 51% of our enrolled children have genetic hearing loss. Approximately, half our children have a genetic component for their hearing loss. Knowing why a child has hearing loss helps us plan for their individual services.
Building update…
The building expansion continues and is expected to be done in September 2023. I encourage you to call and set up a tour to see the progress we have made. We are very excited to complete our project so more children will have an opportunity to receive our services.
Warmly,
Maria
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May). A parent’s guide to genetics & hearing loss. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/freematerials/Parents_Guide_Genetics_HL_2021_P.pdf