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Local Hearing Aid Clinican Jerry Rowray volunteered to treat impoverished hearing impaired children in Monterrey,San Luis Potosi and Ciudad Victoria, Mexico; his life will never be the same.
“There is an overwhelming sense of privilege to be a part of this effort,” said Kim Johnson,spokeswoman for NewSound Hearing Aid Centers.“It was like having a front- row seat to witnessing lives changed;the children arrive unable to hear,and they leave hearing.The emotion is uncontainable.”
Rowray traveled with a team of 11 specialists and support staff from various NewS-
ound Hearing Aid Centers in Texas. “Most of the children we treated experienced a 40-to 60 percent hearing loss since birth or from childhood diseases and infections.A 40 decibel loss can be demonstrated by plugging both index fingers into the ear canals as tightly as possible,” said Rowray..
“At best,this is how these children were able to hear before we came.”
The project was organized with the help of the Starkey Hearing Foundation,a non-
profit organization that promotes hearing awareness and helps impoverished children receive hearing aids.It began when a team canvassed the area to locate children with hearing problems.“It is heart-wrenching to see children who actually have hearing ability,but have been put away because their families thought they were deaf.In many, many cases,hearing aids are all that they needed.” In the United States,infant screening programs are required by law.Before a new- born leaves the hospital,his or her hearing has been checked.Hearing is critical in the development of speech,learning and social acceptance. But in the poorest regions of Mexico,an infant who can ’t hear may not be properly assessed until learning has been
affected.Nearly all of the 1,184 patients seen by Rowray ’s team were helped with hear-ing aids.
“It is deeply
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