HEARING LOSS

HEARING LOSS

Well-known people

An estimated 500,000 people are hearing-impaired in the United States. Some of the more well-known people with the disorder:

Thomas Edison, famous inventor, who had hearing problems since he was a child and became technically deaf in his teens.

Rush Limbaugh, radio personality, suffered sudden hearing loss due to an autoimmune inner-ear disease. He has since had a cochlear implant in his left ear to help restore some of his hearing.

Juliette Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America, suffered chronic ear infections and lost hearing in one ear because of improper treatment. She lost hearing in her other ear at age 26 at her wedding when a grain of good-luck rice lodged in her ear and punctured her eardrum.

Heather Whitestone-McCallum, the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss America. She won the title in 1995.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, had gradual hearing loss beginning in his 20s and later became almost totally deaf.

Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who, lost hearing in one ear after an on-stage explosion in the 1960s and slowly lost hearing in his other ear from repeated exposure to loud music.

Source: About.com