Believe it or not 30 of 50 states do not have mandatory hearing aid coverage for children under 18. Families in these states are expected to pay thousands of dollars for their child to have access to speech and environmental awareness. Those hearing aid costs (hearing aid, repairs and molds) also do not apply to a families out of pocket expense. Families have often relied on charities to donate older second-hand/refurbished hearing aids. This leaves children vulnerable to inconsistent access to speech and sound awareness. Several states that lack these hearing aid safe gaurds for deaf and hard of hearing children are proposing a visual langauge (ASL) to fix the language deprivation that is identified in their states. Our children need equal access to speech. Please give our kids a voice!
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