CEA and ASHA Continue Collaboration to Promote Safe Listening

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^® today announced further collaboration with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to promote safe listening habits. The new joint campaign elements include radio PSAs and a brochure focused on the safe usage of portable entertainment devices.

“Listen to Your Buds Safe Listening Concerts”

CEA and ASHA partnered with leading children’s musicians Billy Jonas, Justin Roberts, Brady Rymer and Linda Severt to produce 30- and 60-second audio PSAs with each artist promoting safe listening tips for children of all ages. The PSAs will run in radio markets where ASHA’s “Listen to Your Buds Safe Listening Concerts” are held. The two organizations also partnered to produce a new “Listening for a Lifetime” brochure that will be distributed to consumers through CEA’s manufacturing and retail members and CEA’s Web site DigitalTips.org.

Both of these outreach efforts are an expansion of CEA’s ongoing commitment to promote safe listening, along with ASHA’s “Listen To Your Buds” public education campaign (listentoyourbuds.org), which teaches young children safe listening habits so that they protect their hearing from unsafe usage of personal audio technology.

“CEA is pleased to broaden our commitment to promote safe listening habits through our work with ASHA,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. “Once consumers are educated about how to use their personal audio devices safely, then protecting their hearing becomes part of their everyday routine. Additionally, we are excited to welcome ASHA back to the Kids@Play TechZone of the 2010 International CES and hope that all attendees will take the time to visit their booth to learn more about what their organization can do to help spread this important message.”

CEA and ASHA recommend a few simple steps for all consumers when using personal entertainment devices. First, set your volume control to the lowest level where you can hear the music comfortably and clearly. Once the volume is set, leave it there. Also, check if your music player has a volume limiter that allows you to set a safe listening level by establishing a maximum volume level on your player. Finally, limit listening time to give your hearing “quiet breaks.”

“We are very pleased and grateful to have CEA as a key collaborator in the promotion of safe listening, an extremely important health message for the public to receive,” ASHA President Sue Hale says. “CEA’s member companies are a wonderful channel of message delivery. We congratulate and thank them for spreading the word through resources like the ‘Listening For a Lifetime’ brochure.”

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech and hearing scientists. ASHA’s “Listen To Your Buds” campaign has been honored by the American Society of Association Executives and PR News.

The PSAs and “Listening for a Lifetime Brochure” are available for media upon request, and posted at www.CE.org/safelistening.

About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 127,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. For more information about noise, hearing loss, and noise prevention, go to www.asha.org or 1-800-638-TALK.

About CEA:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.

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