In 2012, the US-based Massachusetts Hearing Aids for Children Coalition (MassHACC) founded in 2009, had a bill passed into law, to offset the cost of digital hearing-aids to families with children who have hearing issues.
Their debating point was that:
Children who do not receive early intervention [for deafness] cost schools an additional $420,000 [each] and face overall lifetime costs of $1,000,000 in special education, lost wages and health complications.
Read: Massachusetts Passes Hearing-Aid Bill Into Law
Most importantly,
With early access to hearing devices, children who at one time may have attended a deaf school are being mainstreamed as early as preschool and Kindergarten.
For families, this possibility can be priceless.
Further Reading:
- Ireland’s Only Audiology Course Being Scrapped
- How New Zealand’s Hearing Tests Lead To Early Intervention
- Hearing-Aids + Learning = Education
- Hearing-Aids (And Parents) Boost Childrens’ Vocabulary
- Hearing Technology Bills Pass Into US Laws
- Newton mom lobbying for insurance coverage of hearing-aids (June 2011)
- Good Acoustics In Schools Make Listening Easier
