The Hear the World Foundation makes a successful contribution to Special Olympics athletes 

More than 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from 170 countries traveled  to Athens, Greece, for the Special Olympics Summer World Games in June 2011. Special Olympics athletes underwent a thorough health screening program, including this year for the first time an in depth hearing screening – initiated by the Hear the World Foundation. All athletes were offered free hearing screenings at the HELEXPO center from June 24 to July 3, 2011. 

Approximately one quarter of Special Olympics athletes failed the basic hearing tests, yet many have not worn hearing aids due to limited financial resources or lack of access to proper medical care in their homecountries. In order to meet this need, the Hear the World Foundation provides hearing aids free of charge to the Special Olympics Healthy Hearing discipline. To ensure that each athlete adjusts properly to his or her new hearing aids, the Foundation also provides gether with it's Phonak Partners worldwide follow-up post-fitting services in their home countries.

Until today, numerous athletes have been fitted with hearing aids thanks to the Hear the World Foundation.

Read the touching review.

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» New hearing experience for Hiromi
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» Alva Stinson - His change is phenomenal!

In order to ensure that the athletes can enjoy their new hearing instruments year round, VARTA Microbattery, a leading provider of hearing instrument batteries and Partner of the Hear the World Foundation, is providing a year’s supply of batteries for each athlete.

About Special Olympics

Special Olympics is a not-for-profit global organization dedicated to providing sports training, competition, and related services to children and adults with intellectual disabilities. With a presence in over 150 countries worldwide and all 50 states in the United States, Special Olympics has become the world's premier intellectual disability sports organization, with over 3.5 million participating athletes.


Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) face increased challenges to accessing health care services. Since 2000, Special Olympics Healthy Hearing has been instrumental in highlighting this disparity