Downingtown student raising awareness about hearing loss through nonprofit 3 Tiny Bones

DOWNINGTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Yaduraj Choudhary wears a lot of hats these days. The 12th grader at Downingtown STEM Academy is a content creator, full-time student, and founder and president of a non-profit. He recently founded 3 Tiny Bones to raise awareness and destigmatize hearing loss.

"More than 1 billion people are at risk for hearing loss around the world," he says.

This is a cause that's close to his heart. Choudhary was born with hearing loss and required four surgeries on the ear bones -- the three smallest bones in the human body. He says he was bullied in the 6th grade because of his hearing aid.

"We just want to make sure we destigmatize hearing loss and protect kids' hearing. Hearing is a vital sense. It's important that we protect it because we use it every day...Those causes aligned for me and that's why I started 3 Tiny Bones," said Choudhary.

This year, he has met with Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey and Pennsylvania State Representatives in championing his cause.

And the Chester County Commissioners recently awarded Choudhary with a proclamation honoring his work, naming October Hearing Loss Prevention Month.

"The issue is so very important. A lot of times issues like this that don't affect the largest part of our population, it's still extraordinarily important. We don't want students to fall behind because they're afraid to bring up that they're experiencing something like hearing loss. We want the students to know there's a lot we can do to support them," said Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell.

Choudhary says the most important things to do to protect your hearing are to listen to music at a safe volume, move away from loud noises and don't be afraid to use ear plugs or noise-canceling headphones when at loud venues.

To learn more about 3 Tiny Bones please visit https://3tinybones.org