Did you know May is Better Speech & Hearing Month (BHSM)?
Every year the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) holds the month long campaign as a chance to bring awareness to the issues of communication disorders as well as shedding some light on how members of their organization can provide treatments that can be life-changing. For 2015, they have chosen the team to be “Early Intervention Counts.”
Better Speech & Hearing Month Resources
ASHA provides tons of downloadable goodies on their page to help promote their campaign. They have a downloadable logo, poster, Facebook cover photo, coloring pages, bookmarks, products available for purchase (including pens, balloons, t-shirts, etc.), consumer education materials. and more.
You can find all the BSHM resources here.
BSHM Campaigns
Speaking Up for Communication Contest
As part of the Better Speech & Hearing Month’s initiatives, they are running a special contest where those who sign up with their social media pages and help build awareness have chances to win merchandise and gift cards. The promotion began April 13, 2015 and will run until the end of this month. How does it work? Well the more social postings about the program you post or others you get involved, the more points you earn…the higher the likelihood of winning. Prizes include ASHA merchandise and Amazon gift cards.
The World Health Organization has warned that “1.1 billion young people are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss from leisure activities, such as misuse of personal audio technology.” AASHA’s award-winning educational program, Listen to Your Buds, helps teach both children and parents about how to safely use headphones and other personal listening devices without causing any noise-induced hearing loss in the future. The program uses an interactive Safe Listening Concert in Washington D.C. The star of the show is a Parents Choice award-winning musician named Billy Jonas.
In September 2013, ASHA started a public education program that aimed to show some of the early signs of communication disorders and the overwhelming need to prevent these disorders. To celebrate Better Speech and Hearing Month, ASHA has released a new video and other resources online. So far, the campaign has gained over 347 million audience impressions.
Are you a speech-language pathologist? Check out some of the great information on Early Intervention here. You may just be able to pass on some valuable information to a patient.
