Thank you for signing our petition on Change.org or e-mailing/mailing a copy of this letter. You are one of more than 8,000 individuals who have joined our movement requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rethink their methodology of data collection and conduct a new survey that includes individuals with hearing loss.

The Board of Directors, volunteers, and staff at the Hearing Health Foundation are overwhelmed by your support. By taking action, you are representing the 48 millions of Americans living with hearing loss who were excluded from partaking in the CDC’s survey. This is because the report is based off data collected through The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a telephone survey that doesn’t reach people with hearing loss.

We want to share with you a recent letter from the CDC that was sent to Ms. Ingrida Lusis of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), addressing concerns regarding the survey methodology and the steps being taken by the CDC to include the deaf and hard of hearing in their future telephone surveys. HHF will continue to monitor the CDC’s progress and inform key decision makers if more headway can be made in this area. We will also be mailing all petitions to Maria Town, White House Office of Public Engagement, on September 1st.

Thank you again for your support. If you have not already done so, please forward our petition to your friends, families, and colleagues and encourage them to take action!

If you would like to receive our monthly e-newsletter that includes the latest hearing and balance research updates, read stories of people directly impacted by hearing loss, and learn about hearing health, sign up here.