HHF Named Twice in Consumer Reports

Hearing Health Foundation is absolutely thrilled to be named—twice—in Consumer Reports’ “Best Charities for Your Donation,” published Dec. 14, 2016.

The article offers tips for finding a charity that, in its words, “really puts your money to work.” It reviewed the detailed process by which charity rating organizations Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance assess charities.

“Collectively, these groups evaluate thousands of nonprofit organizations based on how they collect and spend their money, how transparent they are to the public, and how well they’re governed,” the story says.

Using the watchdog reports, Consumer Reports listed up to five of the highest- and lowest-rated charities in 11 categories.

Hearing Health Foundation was cited as one of the nation’s five best charities—and the only one cited twice, in the categories “Blind and Impaired Hearing” and “Health.”

I like to say Hearing Health Foundation is “small yet mighty”—so it is very gratifying to get confirmation of our fiscal health from a respected publication like Consumer Reports.

During this season of giving, we are grateful for your gifts that enable us to further our mission of hearing protection, education, and research.

If you haven’t yet, and are able to give, please consider an end-of-year donation knowing that all of us at Hearing Health Foundation—staff, scientists, board members, and other advisers—are working tirelessly to make your dollars count.

Give to HHF this #GivingTuesday

By Laura Friedman

#GivingTuesday is an international day of giving that kicks off the holiday giving season, is November 29th!

Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) wants to thank you for your support of our research programs, such as the Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) and Emerging Research Grants (ERG). Your support enhances the lives of millions of Americans. Thank you!

Here are some of our successes, dating back to our founding in 1958:

• HHF is the largest non-profit funder of hearing research in the U.S.

• HHF-funded research has led to the development of cochlear implants and treatments for otosclerosis (abnormal bone growth in the ear) and ear infections.

• n 1987, HHF-funded researchers discovered that chickens regenerate their inner ear hair cells after damage and mammals do not. This led to the development of the HRP in 2011.

• In the 1990s HHF advocated for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening legislation, to detect hearing loss at birth. Today, 97% of newborns are tested, up from 4% in 1994!  

The question of finding a cure for hearing loss is not if, but when. 

You can change the course of hearing and balance science and
helps us find better therapies and cures by giving today.

Here are some ways you can #HearTheHope this holiday season:

• Make a donation to HHF in honor or in memory of someone close to you. You can even make gifts of appreciated stocks or a planned gift!   

Post that you gave to HHF on social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, and encourage your friends to give as well.

• Post that you gave to HHF on social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, and encourage your friends to give as well.

  • The average person has 300 friends on Facebook which means that if each of your friends donates just $1 on Giving Tuesday, you can raise $300 in one day—it’s that easy!

• Let your talents and interests lead you to your own fundraiser for HHF through our website! No event is too large or small. Here are some ideas for inspiration:

  • Host a potluck and ask your guest bring a dish and make a charitable contribution to HHF.

  • Organize a bake sale or golf outing with the proceeds will be donated to HHF.

  • Burn excess Thanksgiving calories and go for a run, swim (indoors of course!), or bike ride, fundraising for every mile accomplished.

Have other ideas or questions for us? E-mail us at Development@hhf.org.

Can a Mutation Predict Ear Infections?

By Regie Lyn P. Santos-Cortez, M.D., Ph.D.

Otitis media or middle ear infection is a common disease in childhood; in the United States, it is the most frequent reason for antibiotic use in children and pediatric office visits. Typically when children have otitis media it is usually acute. This means the duration of infection since the start of symptoms is under two weeks, and there is inflammation such as redness of the eardrum and pus in the middle ear, with or without the perforation of the eardrum (a hole in the eardrum).

In such cases, what causes the infection is usually a common bacterium such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (“strep”) or Haemophilus influenzae (including type B, or Hib). The infection can become chronic, so there is a persistent perforation that may not heal and a chronic or recurrent ear discharge.

Otitis media is typically treated with antibiotics and may require surgery. If left untreated, it can lead to complications, the most common of which is hearing loss. Today, there is a preventative vaccination available for bacteria (strep and some Hib) that cause acute otitis media.

Aside from young age, there are many risk factors that contribute to otitis media, such as lack of breastfeeding, allergies, upper respiratory infection, daycare attendance or overcrowding, exposure to tobacco smoke, low socioeconomic status, and family history. Over the past few years, the availability of new sequencing technologies has sped up the identification of novel genes associated with disease including infections and immune states.

Through funding from Hearing Health Foundation, our group studied an indigenous Filipino community that is relatively homogeneous, highly intermarried, and has about a 50 percent prevalence of otitis media. In this population quantitative age, sex, body mass index, breastfeeding, tobacco exposure or swimming in deep seawater were not associated with otitis media. All members of the indigenous community have poor access to health care and low socioeconomic status.

By using next-generation sequencing in two indigenous second cousins who have chronic otitis media, we identified a mutation in the A2ML1 gene that is shared by the two cousins. This gene encodes a protease inhibitor localized to the middle ear epithelium. (An inhibitor is a compound that traps protease—an enzyme that breaks up protein—and brings it to other cell structures for clearance.)

In this study, we reconstructed a large pedigree of 37 indigenous relatives with different forms of otitis media, and showed that each relative with the mutation has an 80 percent chance of having any form of otitis media. When the study was expanded to 85 community members, the A2ML1 mutation was the only significant predictor of otitis media within the community, and carriage of the mutation increases the risk of otitis media almost four-fold. Our study was published in American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation's journal on August 2, 2016.

Among A2ML1 mutation carriers, otitis media may be diagnosed within the first months of life, with chronic otitis media occurring in later childhood and persisting well into adulthood, suggesting that the mutation affects otitis media onset and recovery. Furthermore, mutation carriers with chronic otitis media have higher relative abundance of the bacteria Fusobacterium and Porphyromonas, which are relatively uncommon for the disease.

Taken together, these findings are consistent with the role of A2ML1 protein as a protective factor in the middle ear; defective A2ML1 protein makes the middle ear mucosa susceptible to damage from proteases produced by both bacteria and inflammatory cells. The mutation of the gene means its protease inhibitor action fails to trap and clear damaging enzymes.

Remarkably the same A2ML1 mutation that was found in the indigenous Filipinos was also identified in three European and Hispanic-American children, indicating that this mutation is not limited to the Filipinos. (It’s possible the same ancestor from Spain, estimated to be 1,800 years ago, introduced the variation to these populations.) The three U.S. children who carried the mutation also had early-onset otitis media that required surgery by six months. Additionally we also identified rare A2ML1 mutations in six other otitis-prone children in the U.S.

We have established A2ML1’s involvement in otitis media susceptibility and can use this knowledge to predict otitis media occurrence in mutation carriers. Now we are expanding our research by studying DNA and/or microbial samples from additional U.S. and Filipino families, and RNA and additional microbial samples from the indigenous Filipino population. Our goal is to identify additional genes and pathways that play a role in otitis media susceptibility and that may be targeted to develop novel treatments of chronic otitis media.

Regie Lyn P. Santos-Cortez, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus. A 2011 and 2012 Emerging Research Grants scientist, she also received the 2012 Collette Ramsey Baker Research Award (in memory of Collette Ramsey Baker, HHF’s founder).

The study “Genetic and Environmental Determinants of Otitis Media in an Indigenous Filipino Population” was published in the journal of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery online on August 2, 2016.

We're Partnering With The Mighty!

By Benjamin Sherman

We're thrilled to announce a new partnership that will bring Hearing Health Foundation’s (HHF) resources in front of The Mighty's wide-reaching readership. HHF is excited to share with you our partner page on The Mighty and our logo will appear next to many stories on the site.

For those who don’t know, The Mighty is a story-based health community focused on improving the lives of people facing disease, disorder, mental illness and disability. More than half of Americans are facing serious health conditions or medical issues. They want more than information. They want to be inspired. The Mighty publishes real stories about real people facing real challenges.

HHF is dedicated to helping people with hearing loss, tinnitus, and other hearing conditions live their lives to the fullest. With this partnership, we'll be able to help even more people.

Interested in partnering with Hearing Health Foundation?

Learn more here: http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/become-partner

Noise-Induced Brain Inflammation May Result in Painful Hearing

By Drs. Senthilvelan Manohar, Kelly Radziwon, and Richard Salvi

What do jet engines, sirens, and rock bands have in common? The sounds they emit are so intense that they are not only loud, but also painful, sometimes evoking a painful sensation around the external ear. The acoustic threshold for pain, 130-140 dB SPL, is intense enough to destroy or damage the delicate sensory hair cells, supporting cells and auditory nerve fibers in the inner ear. The axons from the auditory nerve deliver their messages to neurons located in the cochlear nuclei in the brainstem. 

In a recent paper published in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Drs. Baizer and Manohar at the University at Buffalo were surprised to find that intense noise exposures that destroyed the sensory hair cells in the rat inner ear led to a prolonged period of auditory nerve fiber degeneration in the cochlear nucleus in the brainstem (Bazier et al., Neuroscience 303 (2015) 299–311). Nerve fiber degeneration was still occurring 6-9 months post-exposure, nearly a third of the rat’s lifespan. In brain regions where the fibers were degenerating, there was robust upregulation of brain immune cells (microglia), indicative of long-term neuro-inflammation triggered by the release of inflammatory molecules in the brain. Since sensory nerve fibers (e.g., pain, touch) from the face, head, neck and shoulders (facial, trigeminal and spinal nerves) enter the cochlear nucleus, the long-term neuro-inflammation occurring in this region could lower pain thresholds (hyperalgesia). If this were to occur, much lower, moderate-intensity sounds (60-80 dB) might be sufficient to cause hyperacusis (loudness intolerance) with ear pain.

With funding from the Hearing Health Foundation obtained by Drs. Radziwon* and Manohar to identify pain-related molecules in the auditory pathway as a result of noise exposure, Drs. Manohar, Adler, and Salvi carried out a second study in which they measured noise-induced changes in the expression (amount) of genes involved in the synthesis of proteins known to be involved in neuropathic pain and neuro- inflammation. Interestingly, the researchers found that intense noise exposure significantly altered the expression of six genes (Ccl12, Tlr2, Oprd1, II1b, Ntrk1 & Kcnq3) in the cochlear nucleus (Manohar et al., Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience 75 (2016) 101–112). These results suggest that noise-induced inflammation in the parts of the central auditory pathway that also processes sensory information related to pain might, in turn, activate the central pain pathway thus producing ear pain. Determining whether neuro-inflammation is directly responsible for ear pain will open the door for novel interventions to treat hearing loss and hyperacusis.

*Kelly Radziwon, Ph.D., is a 2015 Emerging Research Grants recipient. Her grant was generously funded by Hyperacusis Research Ltd. Learn more about Radziwon and her work in “Meet the Researcher.”
 

We need your help in funding the exciting work of hearing and balance scientists. Donate today to Hearing Health Foundation and support groundbreaking research: hhf.org/donate.

Summers With HHF Are Well Spent

By Morgan Leppla

Last December, I realized I would need something to do for the summer after my freshman year of college. I knew I wanted to end up in a city and work with nonprofits, so I put out feelers for internships in San Francisco, D.C., and New York City.

A friend of Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) put me in touch with Laura Friedman, HHF’s communications and programs manager, who I interviewed with earlier this year. It went well (clearly, I’m here), and to my delight, on the same phone call she offered me an internship at HHF.

I had a few offers from other organizations but Laura told me that HHF would be dedicated to ensuring I would have a fruitful internship experience. And on the last day, I can corroborate her initial promise.

Before I started my internship, my knowledge of hearing health was both sparse and vague. I knew little about research conducted on hearing loss and related disorders, and I assumed my internship would be spent monitoring HHF’s Twitter and Facebook accounts and photocopying, while occasionally eavesdropping in on conversations otherwise too important for my ears.

After 12 weeks of actually writing blogs (many thanks to people reading them!) and, for the Fall issue, magazine articles, plus researching statistics and talking and working with people who care about HHF’s mission, I now have a plethora of hearing-related facts I intend to regale classmates with at (not-too-loud) parties for years to come.

For those who don’t know, HHF’s full-time staff includes four people, with three part-time freelancers—so while they are small, this is a talented and efficient group! The CEO, Nadine Dehgan, will stuff appeal envelopes with me and anyone else in a staff meeting just to get it done. HHF employees may not be the scientists discovering breakthroughs, but the energy, labor, and hours behind collecting enough dollars to sustain the organization and fund life-changing grants surely accumulate into something with a recognizably valuable shape. To witness such unwavering commitment is striking.

I am not trying to hide my partiality for HHF, I think that much is clear. It’s true Laura has tried to infuse my experience with purpose, so I am of course grateful for that. And if you’ve been keeping track, I’ve hit a few of those buzzwords (unwavering, life-changing, meaningful, etc.) you might find usually overstate the point or are overused to meaninglessness, but this time I don’t think I’ve fallen into that trap.

It’s not that often that you (that is, people who consume media online) are allowed to peer into an organization’s foundation, for the cloak of professionalism is mighty. But hopefully I’ve brought to your attention the quality and dedication I have witnessed firsthand today and every day here at HHF.  

I leave my summer internship with appreciation and admiration and the hope that HHF will prosper for years to come!

And, of course, if it within your bandwidth, please donate to make sure this happens!

The Les Paul Foundation Funds Music Camps, Classroom Projects, Museums, Hearing Health Programs and Veterans' Recovery

New York, New York – July 11, 2016 - The Les Paul Foundation, whose mission is to honor the legacy of Les Paul, has continued its commitment to provide funding to projects that share Les Paul’s spirit. In 2016, the recipient organizations represent issues that were important to Les Paul and share Les Paul’s vision and innovation with their programs.

“Les Paul encouraged all of us to be innovative and create opportunities so the world would become a better place,” said Michael Braunstein, Executive Director of the Les Paul Foundation. “The organizations that have received grants perpetuate many of his philosophies and ideas. This allows us at the foundation to continue his legacy and show support for his values.”

Organizations that have benefitted from recent Les Paul Foundation grants include:

Birch Creek Music Performance Center of Egg Harbor, WI offers a summer guitar master class that includes Les Paul’s inventions, experiments and recording technique.

The Bonaroo Works Fund of Nashville, TN coordinated with the Les Paul Foundation to present the first ever Les Paul Spirit Award. The Bonaroo Works Fund supports education, music and arts programs for children or communities, protection of the environment and environment sustainability, and the arts/humanities in middle Tennessee.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County of Hobe Sound, FL weaves Les Paul’s contribution to rock and roll into their Les Rock program. Youth, ages 8 – 18, learn about Les’ contribution to music production including multi-tracking.

Camp Spin Off Foundation of Las Vegas, NV, provides 13-17 year olds an opportunity to learn about music production, remixing, music business and how to DJ. Campers learn how crucial Les Paul’s recording innovations were to how music is produced today.

Discovery World in Milwaukee, WI is reinforcing its Les Paul House of Sound exhibit with two new Les Paul-based school programs.

First Stage Milwaukee in Milwaukee, WI is sharing Les Paul’s stories of perseverance and innovation with elementary students. Through the dramatic process, students explore Les Paul’s inventions, his influence on the music industry, his creativity and his ability to overcome life’s challenges.

Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers located in San Francisco, CA continues to include Les Paul in its presentations to music and sound arts schools and in its on-line presence. The organization focuses on encouraging youth to handle the power of sound in a safe manner.

The Hearing Health Foundation, headquartered in New York, NY, is the largest nonprofit supporter of hearing research. The Les Paul Foundation Award for Tinnitus Research is awarded annually to the most promising researcher studying the cause of ringing in the ears. This year’s recipient is Julia Campbell, Ph.D, Au.D, CCC-A, F-AAA, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Texas at Austin.

“I am deeply honored to have received a grant award from the Les Paul Foundation to study brain function in the perception of tinnitus.  Tinnitus is a disorder that affects millions of people around the world, and yet we still have no way to measure this disorder or a cure for it.  Les Paul was an innovator, a dreamer, and a doer who loved to bring new sound into people’s lives.  I believe that his legacy is an inspiration to not only better understand tinnitus, but to use this knowledge to improve the quality of life in those it affects,” said Campbell.

Legacy Music Alliance in Salt Lake City, UT uses Les Paul’s story from the Les Paul Foundation website in guitar programs, which are taught in Utah’s schools. Musical instruments are purchased and provided to Utah schools for use by students.

Litchfield Music Alliance of Litchfield, CT hosts Nicki Parrott of the Les Paul Trio at its master classes. Nicki tells Les’ story and includes his music in her classes.

Mahwah Museum Society of Mahwah, NJ will be integrating digital technology into its permanent Les Paul exhibit to increase visitors’ access to documents, photos and videos of Les Paul.

Six String Heroes of Jefferson Barracks in O’Fallon, MO use music to help injured veterans heal physical and mental wounds. The group shares Les’ story of perseverance and how Les experienced the healing power of music.

VHI Save the Music of New York, NY receives funding for its program to reintroduce music into public schools across the United States through its supply of musical instruments to schools in need. Each school will receive copies of a student-friendly biography of Les Paul for use by students.

Waukesha Community Art Project of Waukesha, WI will relay Les Paul’s love of music and his unending curiosity and relentless search for answers to inspire students to ask their own questions and make their own discoveries.

Wisconsin School Music Association of Madison, WI will guide student musicians through the maze of music business so that they can succeed and protect their work. Les Paul’s story will illustrate for students how success comes from never giving up.

Women’s Audio Mission of San Francisco, CA focuses on advancing women in music production and technology. Les Paul’s story inspires students in their hands-on electronics projects. The organization aims to cultivate the female version of Les Paul.

For more information on the Les Paul Foundation go to www.lespaulfoundation.org. Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/lespaulfoundation or www.twitter.com/lespaulfoundation

Grant applications are accepted twice a year. http://www.lespaulfoundation.org/programs/.

PRESS CONTACT
Caroline Galloway

(440) 591-3807   caroline@m2mpr.com

HHF's FY'15 Annual Report: Read It Now

By Morgan Leppla

Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) is pleased to announce that our 2015 annual report is now available. From the latest hearing research to how we have worked to fulfill our mission, the report is a comprehensive look at our programs, events, and activities for fiscal year 2015 (Oct 1, 2014 - Sept 30, 2015).

In the report, we review HHF’s progress, talk to supporters, and decode the financials. Here are some highlights:

• Check out the incredible supporters who ran, hiked, and hosted events all to benefit HHF’s mission!

• HHF’s Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) consortium of researchers made notable strides in hearing and tinnitus research. In 2015, the HRP designed a model to test candidate hair cells for regeneration in deafened adult mice, and that’s only a fraction of the story.

  • HRP researchers like Andy Groves, Ph.D., thank you. “Federal funding for biomedical research has decreased by over 20% since 2003, and it shows no sign of increasing any time soon. Your support is critical to help support the skilled young scientists in my lab and to keep the lab afloat,” he says.

• HHF awarded ten Emerging Research Grants (ERGs) to innovative scientists in the areas of Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), Hyperacusis, Ménière’s Disease, and Tinnitus. Learn more about what they are doing with their research grants.

• See if your name made the donor list. Didn’t see your name...make a gift by Sept 30, 2016, to be listed in fiscal year 2016’s annual report.

• Keep your eye (or ear!) out for hearing-related facts and statistics.

Get all the details in the full report here. We are excited by our progress over the past year and hope you enjoy reading it. As always, have any questions, please email us at info@hhf.org!

Please consider making a gift today so we can continue to carry out our mission and find a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.

YOU ARE OUR HOPE.

HHF Achieves Accreditation From BBB Wise Giving Alliance

By Morgan Leppla

Accountable, transparent, responsive, and enterprising. 

It takes a resolute organization to embody these traits. While we believe that has been the case since Hearing Health Foundation’s inception in 1958, we now have Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (BBB WGA) accreditation to prove it!

The BBB WGA evaluates charities based off of 20 holistic standards that include scrutinizing financial transparency and planning, internal governance, effectiveness measurements, and fundraising disclosure practices and accuracy. Check out our profile at Give.org today!

We also recently received a Platinum rating from Guidestar, which is the highest rating available. This rating signifies that HHF yields measurable results using self-defined metrics that reveal much more than oversimplified financial ratios.

But why should this matter to you?

Because these 3rd party ratings show we achieve our mission, responsibly!  

“The public can be assured that every charity evaluation is completed with careful, objective analysis of charity information,” says Art Taylor, president and CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. “

The more we become deserving of your trust, the better the prospects for curing and preventing hearing loss and tinnitus. More than 80 cents of every dollar goes to funding programs and research, meaning we have the capacity to to enact the changes we promise.

While the BBB seal of approval verifies the standards of our operating procedures described above, our commitment to quality is motivated by a much greater force. It is traceable to our mission and core values, which structure the ways we act and choices we make. Accountability to our constituents and stakeholders is crucial to upstanding practices, and without it we would not be HHF. 

Please consider making a gift today so we can continue to carry out our mission and find a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus. 

YOU ARE OUR HOPE.

Brush with Hearing Loss Inspires Young Artist's Vision to Help Others

WESTPORT — A young artist appealed to people’s sense of sight at his first solo art show Saturday to raise funding for research to cure hearing loss.

Alex Mussomeli, 11, a student at Long Lots School, who uses a Cochlear implant in one ear and a hearing aid in the other, sold 51 of the 54 acrylic paintings he displayed in the show, titled, “The Wonder of Art Exploration!” It raised approximately $16,000 for the New York City-based Hearing Health Foundation. According to the HHF website, it is the largest non-profit funder of hearing research and its aim is “to prevent and cure hearing loss and tinnitus through groundbreaking research and to promote hearing health.”

“Our mission is to fund research through a consortium of scientists to find a cure for hearing loss. We have a Hearing Restoration Project,” said Roger Harris of New Canaan, an HHF board member, who attended Alex’s art exhibit at the Fairfield County Hunt Club.

Harris said Alex is “a very gifted young man,” and he is impressed with the boy’s philanthropic efforts. “It was his idea to have this show. To have someone at his age be so socially aware is really amazing.”

“This is my first time exhibiting. It feels pretty special and exciting,” said Alex, who worked for a year to produce his colorful paintings, prints and notecards, many of them with floral and spring themes: “Enchanted Flowers,” “The Tulip Playing the Note,” “The Dreamy Sunflower,” “The Bright Butterfly” and “A Spring Dream.”

“They’re full of life and my happiness,” he added, observing that painting is “my favorite thing to do.”

“Spring after the Storm” was fifth-grade classmate Caroline Motyl’s favorite. “I like the name and the color best because I think it’s really creative,” the 10-year-old said, adding that Alex’s project is “a really brave thing to do. It’s nice because he’s helping other people,” she said.

Alex said he was inspired to use his artistic talent for a good cause after seeing a “CBS Sunday Morning” story about a legally blind artist, Jeff Hanson, who has raised $1 million for charities like the Make-a-Wish Foundation and a children’s hospital through the sales of his paintings.

“I felt like ‘Why couldn’t I do the same for hearing so other kids like me can hear?’ I like to talk to my parents about my day and listen to music,” said Alex.

Alex with Roger Harris

Nada Mussomeli, Alex’s mother, said he was 3 months old when his hearing loss was detected in both ears due to an enlarged vestibular aqueduct, an inner-ear malformation. He received a Cochlear implant in the right ear when he was 3 years old and also has a hearing aid in his left ear.

“My parents wanted me to be mainstreamed so I got a hearing aid, but we learned that the implant is stronger,” Alex said.

Alex uses his senses of hearing and vision as he paints. In his artist’s statement Alex said, “Sometimes I get inspired by something I see.” He also listens to music, sometimes relaxing and sometimes stirring compositions. “I like music full of expressions. I always have music on when I paint.” Ideas dance in his head as his brush dances on the canvas, he said.

Hundreds of people turned out for Alex’s show, among them John Hansen of Fairfield, who said he appreciates the young artist’s use of color, diversity within in the field of plant life and positivity.

Family friend Carol Mueller of Westport said Alex “is an inspiration to all who know him. Alex loves art and enjoys visually expressing his optimism through his painting.”

Nada and Adam Mussomeli said they could not be more proud of their son. Nada Mussomeli said she is inspired watching him do his art and enjoy every minute. “It was a journey.” She also said her dream is that a cure for hearing loss is discovered in her lifetime, but if not in hers then in Alex’s.

This article originally appeared in Westport News on April 12, 2016. It was repurposed with permission.