MAY IS `BETTER HEARING AND SPEECH MONTH'

William Roscoe Newbern of Cape Girardeau answered questions as a speech exercise with Kelley Reeves, speech language pathologist at St. Francis Medical Center.

Since 1927, May has been designated as "Better Hearing and Speech Month," a time to raise public awareness of hearing, speech and language disorders.

Most people take for granted the ability to communicate with others, but for many individuals communication presents a challenge. These people struggle daily with such simple acts as greeting their families or ordering a hamburger.

"We want May to be a time to recognize individuals who work so hard to complete a seemingly easy task of talking and communicating," said Leslie Deal, speech-language pathologist and supervisor of the Speech and Hearing Department at St. Francis Medical Center. "We also want to let others know how they can help those with communication disorders."

Deal said people who have communication problems, because of the nature of their deficits, cannot advocate for themselves. The No. 1 complaint of stroke patients who have communication problems is a feeling of isolation. They have lost the ability to understand what is going on around them and the ability to express themselves the way they want.

"A stroke does not affect intelligence per se," Deal said. "It does affect ability to access things that people know."

Health professionals are attempting to educate people this month as to what happens with a stroke patient as well as others with common communication problems.

At St. Francis and at Southeast Missouri Hospital, patients with a variety of communication disorders are treated. Among those are Parkinson's disease, head injuries, voice disorders, tumors and strokes. Speech language pathologists also treat children with speech problems.

The Pediatric Spot, an off-site rehabilitation facility operated by Southeast Hospital, offers speech, physical and occupational therapy for children.

Cathy Walker, certified speech/language pathologist at the facility, said early intervention is important because the younger a child is, the better are the chances of his developing the skills he lacks.

"We start therapy when recommended by the doctor, which can mean the child is under 6 months old," she explained. "At that age we look at their feeding skills and begin doing some language stimulation and provide parents with ideas to enhance their interactions with their child."

Walker offered guidelines, based on those offered by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, to determine if a child needs help. Among those guidelines are, by the time is a child is 1 year old, he should be imitating speech sounds and should have a vocabulary of one or two words. He should be recognizing common objects, responding to simple requests and responding to his name.

By age 2, the child should be putting two words together, following simple commands and listening to stories or songs.

The child by age 3 should have a word for almost everything in his environment and his speech should be understandable most of the time.

"Parents need to be aware that if they suspect a problem, the school district should be notified, because after age 3, school districts are responsible for speech and language services," Walker said.

Speech and language services are available in the community through a variety of sources, including hospitals, schools, private practices and the Speech and Language Clinic at Southeast Missouri State University.

Information about speech and language services is available from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association at 1-800-638-Talk.

"Better Hearing and Speech Month" is an excellent time to see an audiologist for a hearing test," said Judy Yakunich, audiologist at St. Francis. "Hearing loss typically occurs slowly, so a person may have a very significant loss before they notice it. Some sounds remain clear, such as low-pitched sounds, but high-pitched sounds, such as women's and children's voices, may be very hard to hear. Family members are often the first to notice the loss."

Some 28 million Americans have a hearing loss that can be treated.

Hearing loss has many causes, including exposure to loud noise. The most common hearing loss is associated with aging. More than 40 percent of people with hearing loss are 65 or older.

Hearing impairment is not only an elderly handicap. According to the Missouri Hearing Aid Society, a recent survey of students entering college shows an increase in the number of youth with a detectable hearing loss.

Loud noise, such as car stereos, lawn mowers, power saws and career-related noises, are common reasons for hearing loss in modern society. People can protect their hearing with earplugs and limiting their exposure to extremely loud or intense sound levels, they can help to avoid losing their hearing.

An annual hearing checkup is recommended, beginning at age 45.

Hearing and speech are precious gifts to be treasured and preserved. Professional assistance is readily available to aid in preserving these gifts.