Every year, the University of Louisville’s Student Academy of Audiology organizes a camp for children who are deaf or hard of hearing called Hear Here Camp. The camp includes fun activities, as well as help instill better self-esteem and communication skills.
Ten children between the ages of 4 and 10 attended the 2012 camp. Campers included children who wear hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aids, and cochlear implants, along with typical hearing friends and siblings.
Hear Here camp provides the campers with an opportunity to work on communication and self-advocacy skills. Since all of the children with hearing loss are in regular education classrooms during the school year, the campers had the opportunity to spend time with others who are just like them.
As an example, one of the little girls attending the camp saw another camper and reportedly said, "Look mommy, she has hearing aids just like me!"
This year’s camp was Kentucky themed and campers spent the week learning about baseball and horses, along with having fun with science experiments and getting to know one another.
Hear Here Camp would not have been possible without the work of Student Academy of Audiology students and generous donors, which included Dr Shelley Moats and Hear Here for Little Ears, STIHL Power Equipment, Camping World, Blue Sky Gardeners, Lifetime Properties, Cramer Properties, and JOB Rentals and Sales.
SOURCE: The University of Louisville’s Student Academy of Audiology
