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10/13/2017  |   5:30 PM - 7:15 PM   |  East Ballroom at Shalala Student Services Building

Special Olympics Healthy Hearing

Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program provides health screenings and information to athletes with intellectual disabilities in over 130 countries. Founded in 1999, the Healthy Hearing discipline of Healthy Athletes is dedicated to providing free hearing and audiological services, including cerumen removal, custom swim molds, minor hearing aid repairs, and education. The purpose of the Healthy Hearing discipline is to increase access to hearing care for individuals with intellectual disabilities, educate athletes on hearing loss prevention, research prevalence of ear problems and hearing loss for Special Olympic athletes, and provide training and clinical opportunities for professionals and health care students. Healthy Hearing examinations have found that a large percentage of Special Olympics athletes have untreated hearing conditions. Specifically, 40% of athletes have partially blocked ear canals and 25% of athletes failed hearing assessment with otoacoustic emissions and pure tone audiometry. This poster presentation will provide an overview of the Special Olympics Healthy Hearing program, prevalence data, methodology for conducting examinations, and success stories for reducing the disparities for this population.

• Summarize the data collected by the Special Olympics Healthy Hearing program to identify the prevalence and disparities of ear problems and hearing loss for Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities.
• Discuss the structure and protocol utilized to train professionals, screen athletes, and increase access to care for individuals with intellectual disabilities
• Identify ways to continue to support Special Olympics Healthy Hearing through increased events, trainings for Clinical Directors, and partnerships

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Jamie Valis (POC,Primary Presenter), Special Olympics, jvalis@specialolympics.org;

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.