To create greater awareness of Hearing Awareness Week, PeoplePledge wanted to share 10 interesting facts about Australian children with a hearing impairment or who have had a loss of hearing. These facts are sourced from Hear For You, a non-profit organization in Australia that aims to help parents, families and children affected by hearing loss.

1. There are over 20,000 children and adolescents in Australia with some form of hearing impairment.

2. Almost 16,000 deaf and hearing impaired children are under the age of 21 in Australia.

3. International research has shown that children who have problems making themselves understood are at high risk of social isolation and are 4 times more likely to have a mental health disorder.

4. The risk of having a mental health issue is not associated with the degree of hearing impairment. Rather, it is the level of communication and social difficulty experienced, that affects mental health.

5. Every year, approximately 500 Australian babies are born with a hearing loss.

6. 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents.

7. More than 83% of deaf children and adolescents attend mainstream schools where they are often the sole student in their class or school who is deaf.

8. Deaf children are at a greater risk of developing mental health difficulties/ dysfunction than their hearing peers because of the isolation they experience.

9. Employment opportunities for deaf and hearing impaired people are significantly less than for hearing applicants.

10. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is a common term when a child is diagnosed with hearing impairment.