Audiologist Dana Libman conducts a prescreening on an Overtown Youth Project participant.

Hearing loss affects 12,000 children born in the United States each year, making it the most common birth defect. The easiest way to determine hearing loss is to have an audiogram, which is a calibrated test that assesses how well you hear sounds of different pitch and compares them to normative levels.

To improve awareness regarding the importance of hearing and prevention of hearing loss, audiologists from the Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Otolaryngology recently partnered with the Overtown Youth Project to provide free hearing screenings to more than 80 of the center’s participants.

Open since early 2003, the center represents a joint initiative by local real estate developer Martin Z. Margulies and NBA great Alonzo Mourning to create a safe haven for the children in the heart of Miami’s inner city. The center continually partners with community agencies to provide opportunities, exposure, and options for its students. Spearheaded by interim chair Fred Telischi, the free screening initiative reinforces the Department of Otolaryngology’s commitment to building better communities by providing opportunities for diagnosis and treatment of children with hearing loss and related communication disorders.

“Communication and education depend on the ability to hear normally,” says Telischi, who oversees the University of Miami Ear Institute. “A significant number of children who lag their peers in school may be affected by undetected hearing losses. Our goal is to identify these individuals and make sure their hearing problems are corrected.”