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Visitors have come from as far as Hawaii, England and Australia to find
the Sight & Hearing Association and they didn’t even have to leave
their homes to do it, thanks to the World Wide Web.
With a simple click of the mouse on a personal computer, the Web, as it is commonly called, has changed the way people do business and seek information. By surfing the web, it’s easy to find a home, buy a car and even send flowers to your mom. Most importantly, consumers are learning that information they once needed to search the library for is right at their fingertips. In an effort to provide the public with information on vision and hearing topics, the Sight & Hearing Association has a newly redesigned web site located at www.sightandhearing.org. |
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From the site, you can print fact sheets on glaucoma or noise-induced hearing loss, watch a
condensed version of the Know Noise® video, or through a simple
interactive survey, test yourself for possible vision or hearing
problems. And, in an effort to keep information new and interesting, the
site features a Health Issue of the Month.
Designed by Twin Cities-based TwinVision Studios, the web site is a natural extension of SHA’s mission to prevent vision and hearing loss. Through this vehicle, SHA can now reach people to whom it would previously never had access. Take, for example, the following e-mail from a 13-year-old student, who writes: Thank you for your information on the Web Page about hearing loss. I am 13 and in the seventh grade. For a project in Health class, we had to find out about Noise-Related Hearing Loss. At first I thought that it would be impossible to find out about that topic, but I found your site and voila! Great job it’s in an easy to read format, with everyday language that I can understand! Keep up the great work. During the past six months, the Sight & Hearing Association has responded to nearly 100 e-mails on everything from people requesting information on products, to students planning presentations on noise-induced hearing loss, to a musician concerned about hearing loss. Kate Delhagen an analyst with Forrester Research, predicts that within five years, 50 percent of the U.S. population, or about 135 million people, will communicate regularly via e-mail. Messages can be sent instantly to people anywhere in the world using e-mail, saving paper and postal costs. While there is no substitute for one-on-one personal communication, the Sight & Hearing Association has found the Internet to be just one more way to spread its message about preventing vision and hearing loss. Surf’s up! Here are some examples of the interesting e-mails SHA has received during the past few months.
1) I am a teacher of an undergraduate perception course which covers
hearing protection rather extensively. I would be very interested in
obtaining some of your community service products to display in my
classroom. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. By the
way, your page is very interesting, lots of good information!!
2) I have worked in a copy center/print shop with three Xerox machines
running full speed at least five hours a day. I work there four days a
week. I have been there for one year now and every time I listen to
music on my headphones my ears ache tremendously. Is there any
organization I can contact to investigate the legal limits (if law
exists) which are tolerable in the workplace? One of my co-workers has
been there for four years and has a very hard time hearing. Please help
me.
3) I am currently a student at Winthrop University and will be
participating in a health fair for elementary education teachers. If
possible, please send any info or brochures I could display or hand out
to teachers.
4) Could you please send me information on sight and hearing loss. I am a
student doing a presentation on both topics. I would greatly appreciate
it A.S.A.P.
5) Reading your web page, I see that you will send a free set of ear
plugs. I am a musician and concerned about my hearing, and I would like
to try the ear plugs.
6) I am preparing an information piece for flutists and piccolo players on
the need for concern about hearing health. I wish to use data I found
and further developed from your web site, as well as cite your
organization and web pages as a source of further information....
Listen Up!On International Noise Awareness Day, 220 Minnesotans took advantage of the opportunity to get their hearing checked for freeOne out of twelve 30-year-olds is already hearing impaired. The leading culprit? Noise.This phenomenon, called noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), affects more than 10 million Americans. That number continues to grow each year even though NIHL is totally preventable. That’s why the Sight & Hearing Association and other hearing-related organizations worldwide organized the 3rd annual International Noise Awareness Day. On April 29, Minnesotans were able to get their hearing checked for free by audiologists and ear physicians in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud. Nearly 220 people took advantage of the free screenings; astonishingly, 56 percent of those screened were found to have a potential hearing problem. For example, take Pete (not his real name). He stepped on stage to 120 decibels of sound, night after night, touring with a well-known national band. Eight years ago, he noticed a significant change in his hearing. The result, now at the age of 40, is a constant ringing in his ears and an inability to hear certain high-frequency sounds similar to the pitch of the highest notes on a piano at certain levels. "I wore ear plugs off and on," he said, "but I didn’t do it religiously. They were uncomfortable and muffled the sound too much. They weren’t designed well back then." Of course, musicians aren’t the only ones damaging their hearing because of overexposure to loud noise. Teen-agers driving boom cars, exercisers in aerobics classes, sports fans, boaters, hunters and even homeowners tending to their lawn are potentially damaging their hearing. Most people, however, don’t even realize they’re damaging their hearing. "Most of us haven’t had our hearing checked since grade school," said Vi Traynor, chief executive officer of the Sight & Hearing Association, "and hearing exams aren’t usually a part of an adult’s annual physical. Yet noise, the leading culprit of hearing loss, is all around us. We want people to know it’s never too late to protect their hearing." As part of International Noise Awareness Day, Gov. Arne Carlson officially proclaimed April 29 Minnesota Noise Awareness Day. In addition, ear plugs donated by 3M were distributed at all screening sites. The Sight & Hearing Association received generous media coverage for the event, including interviews on WCCO-AM, KMSP-TV, KARE-TV, WMNN-AM, WCCO-TV, the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, the Rochester Post-Bulletin, the Duluth News-Tribune, and Mpls. St. Paul magazine. Watch for free hearing screenings next year on International Noise Awareness Day, April 21.
A special thank you to the following clinics for opening their doors to the public for free hearing screenings on International Noise Awareness Day:
Rochester elementary students participate in minute of silenceIs it possible to have one minute of complete silence in a room full of 275 second- and third-graders? That was the challenge at Gage Elementary School in Rochester, Minn., as part of International Noise Awareness Day. The day wrapped up a year-long Know Noise® program taught by Mayo Clinic audiologist Ann Anderson. The goal of the program, developed by SHA, is to teach kids about the importance of protecting their hearing. During an hour-long program, the students acted out self-produced skits about noise and participated in the national “minute of silence.” According to Anderson, the kids did a terrific job, although she admits one minute of silence was a challenge.
Screening program detects another success storyEvery so often, we receive a letter from a parent that reinforces the importance of our preschool screening program. It’s a constant reminder to us that the children we screen are more than mere statistics. The following comes from Jeanne Lepp of Stillwater, Minn.:"I would like to thank you for taking the time to screen my daughter at the Sunny Hill Preschool. She didn’t pass either hearing test, the initial or the rescreen, and we probably would not have caught that if you had not been there to test her again. She is now getting tubes and her adenoids removed due to constant fluid in her ears. Again, thank you for helping us to prevent permanent hearing loss".
Sincerely, Gear up for the Grand Prix Volunteers needed to sell ear plugs at Grand PrixAs professional race cars rip through the streets of downtown Minneapolis June 27-28 during the Sprint PCS Grand Prix of Minnesota, one fact will be hard to ignore: It will be loud. As part of our mission to prevent needless hearing loss, the Sight & Hearing Association will sell ear plugs donated by 3M for $1 at the Grand Prix. Last year, we raised nearly $4,000 for our various programs. This is our only fund-raiser of the year and we need your help. We are looking for 50 volunteers willing to help sell ear plugs and have a lot of fun. Following are the volunteer times:
Saturday, June 27
Sunday, June 28 Volunteers will receive colorful T-shirts and pins, passes to go anywhere in the event area (even the drivers’ paddock), access to the refreshments all day and the ability to see the races up close for free. To volunteer, please call the SHA office at 645-2546.
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