Mensa Foundation Recognizes Heuser Hearing Institute for Decades of Service

ARLINGTON, TEXAS, September 28th, 2015 — According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 37 percent of children with only minimal hearing loss fail at least one grade. Since 1948, the Heuser Hearing and Language Academy (HHLA) in Louisville, Ky., has been serving students with hearing loss and their families by providing education options, therapy options and other support. The Mensa Foundation selected the Heuser Hearing and Language Academy as the recipient of the Laura Joyner Award for outstanding work in the area of human intelligence.

HHLA’s well-rounded approach begins the moment that a child is diagnosed with hearing loss. A typical team from HHLA includes a master’s level deaf educator, an early interventionist, and a developmental interventionist. From speech therapy to music and play therapy, the child is immersed in programs that help emphasize language with the goal of integration into their neighborhood schools by first grade. “To say that HHLA furthers human intelligence, to me, is an understatement,” said HHLA Education Director Debra Woods. “What we do here is allow the child’s intelligence to not be hampered by their disability. Instead, it shines, and they become active members of their community. Often leaders!”

“HHLA is a great example of the spirit of this award,” said Foundation President Dave Remine. “They exemplify how important it is to nurture intelligence that improves the lives of those in our community in a real and meaningful manner.”

For more than 40 years, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation has been a strong voice in supporting intelligence. The Foundation fosters the best and brightest through scholarships and awards, and encourages research and intellectual inquiry through the Mensa Research Journal and various Colloquiums. To find out more about the Mensa Foundation Awards, visit mensafoundation.org/awards.

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The Mensa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on intelligence and giftedness in the community at large. It's mission supports two of the three stated purposes shared by all Mensa organizations, to identify and foster intelligence for the benefit of humanity and to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence. The Mensa Foundation pursues these goals, in partnership with American Mensa and/or Mensa International where appropriate, with resources donated by Mensans and non-Mensans alike and aspire to use the intelligence of Mensans and non-Mensans to make the world a better place. For more information about the Mensa Foundation, visit mensafoundation.org or call (817) 607-5577.