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Hearing Awareness Week 2009

   At Home, At Work, At Play

One in six Australians suffers from some form of

hearing loss

Deafness Forum's Hearing Awareness Week theme for 2009 is “At Home, At Work, At Play - One in six” which serves as a reminder that One in six Australians suffers from some form of hearing loss. These 3.55 million Australians live among you, work with you and enjoy a variety of recreational activities.

Living life to the full with a hearing loss is possible with the use of assistive devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, hearing loops, captioning on televisions and in cinemas and theatres, access to qualified Auslan interpreters and a society that acknowledges this largely unrecognised disability.

Hearing loss affects one in six Australians

And the number keeps growing through people continuing to put their hearing at risk At Home, At Work and At Play.

In 2009 it is time to get the message out to the public at large about what is out there to help you with your hearing loss and also how to prevent some forms of hearing loss. What will your organisation or group do to raise awareness this year?
  
    
The Forum encourages all of its member organisations to adopt this broad focus for 2009 HAW, and concentrate on whatever areas or groups they wish.

Posters will again be available for you to distribute in your community.     

Hearing Awareness Week aims to:

• raise awareness of hearing loss (or deafness) and chronic ear disorders, so that those who are affected experience greater acceptance and better accommodation.

• assist affected people to:
  - feel better about themselves
  - be less likely to retreat from the world, hide their disability or pretend it doesn't exist.

• reach out to affected people to tell them about the availability of goods and services that would assist them.
• demonstrate what affected people have the ability to do.

• educate the general public about:
  - the ways of reducing the incidence of hearing loss or chronic ear disorders
  - measures that can be taken to improve the quality of life for those affected.