Importance Of Using Personal Audio Technology Safely Will Be Stressed To Glendale, CA School Children
Rockville, MD - September 14, 2009 - On September 22 at 10 a.m., the Glendale, CA Civic Auditorium will be the site of a free American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) safe listening concert for nearly 1,000 area first- and second-graders. The event will be part of ASHA's national "Listen To Your Buds" campaign (www.listentoyourbuds.org) which educates the very young about practicing safe listening habits such as turning down the volume and taking listening breaks when they use personal audio technology.
Recent research both in the United States and abroad indicates that misuse of the technology has the potential to cause noise-induced hearing loss.
Parents' Choice Foundation award-winning performer Linda Severt will headline the concert. A unique family entertainer, song-writer, and musician, Severt will weave music, circus arts, puppetry and ASHA's health safety message together for a fun filled and educational experience for the children. Severt is a member of a national coalition of Parents' Choice Foundation award-winning musicians who specialize in children's music and have taken the "Buds" pledge, a commitment to sharing the Buds message about safe listening with kids. Weatherman Danny Romero from the Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC will serve as concert emcee.
Severt also will bring her act to a total of three Glendale elementary schools on September 22 and 23. This will be the first time that ASHA's music and safe listening message is brought directly into schools. The schools concerts will be held at Mountain Avenue Elementary on 9/22 at 1 p.m.;and on 9/23 at Cerritos Elementary at 10:15 a.m. and Balboa Elementary at 1 p.m.
ASHA will present its Buds concert in collaboration with The Parents' Choice Foundation and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). ASHA became the first organization to join NIDCD's It's a Noisy Planet: Protect Their Hearing campaign, which complements the Buds message.
AHSA's Listen to Your Buds campaign is supported by the Consumer Electronics Association as well as sponsored by Califone International, the rock group O.A.R, and Tune A Fish Records.
About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 135,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. www.asha.org/.
View all ASHA press releases at www.asha.org/about/news.
Listen to all ASHA podcasts at podcast.asha.org.
A brief video clip on www.listentoyourbuds.org/budsconcert.php captures the excitement and atmosphere of the two Listen To Your Buds safe listening concerts held in Chicago and Washington, DC.
