MDHC Fundraising Technology Drive

From April to July, Marion Downs Hearing Center we will be running a technology drive.  If you have any old cell phones, ipods, laptops (desktops are not part of this program), please bring them by the Marion Downs Hearing Center at 1793 Quentin Street, Unit 2, Aurora, CO 80045.  All donated pieces will be turned in for money and all funds raised donated directly to the MDHC Foundation! 

 

If you're willing to be responsible for a collection box, please call MDHC at 720-848-3042 or email us at mdhc@uch.edu for more information! Boxes will be placed around campus, including in the restaurants and in the school, as well as all over the community.

ASL Idioms Workshop, April 27 and 28

Join us for a two-day workshop focused on advancing your skills of using and understanding English and ASL idioms! This workshop will meet on April 27 and 28 at the MDHC from 4:30 to 6:30 each evening. For more information, follow this link to download the flyer. Registration required!

Marion's COMPASS Clinic - Colorado Multi-Disciplinary Program for Assessment, Strategies, and Support

Marion's COMPASS Clinic is a unique program our clinic offers to families wanting a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the impact hearing loss may have on their child's development, including communication. Our team is made up of:

• Audiologists
• Developmental specialist
• Neuro-otologist   
• Speech-language pathologist
• Genetics counselor
• Developmental Pediatrician  
• Parent and consumer advocates
• Child psychologist  

Each family will have a Care Coordinator who is a 4th year Audiology Doctoral Intern. The coordinator will be responsible for communicating with the family prior to and after the clinic day. In addition, the coordinator accompanies the family to each appointments to help answer any questions. Following clinic day, the coordinator contacts the family with the team's final recommendations or suggested referrals. We continue to work closely with each family to ensure they are provided with any and all resources and assist with moving forward with recommendations.

If you are a provider who wishes to refer a family to be considered for Marion's COMPASS Clinic, or you are a parent with a child who may benefit from this service, contact Kelly DAniell at Kelly.DAniell@uch.edu. 

MDHC Staff Highlight - Tammy Fredrickson, PhD, CCC-A

Following completion of her Master's degree in Audiology from University of Wisconsin, Dr. Tammy Frederickson began her career at St. Louis Children's Hospital. In those early years, she would often hear about and observe her peers struggle with fitting infants with hearing aids. She comments, "I'd watch them be intimidated by the task of fitting babies with aides and I thought to myself, there must be a better way." She had the opportunity to meet Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD, an expert in the field of language, speech, and social-emotional development of deaf and hard of hearing infants and children, and decided to pursue a doctorate degree working with Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano at University of Colorado, Boulder, focusing her research on speech perception in infants. Fast forward six years later, Tammy received her Ph.D from University of Colorado, Boulder in 2010 and has contributed to the body of research dedicated to speech perception in infants, and subsequently, has helped increase standards of care for fitting hearing aids effectively for this population. She is working on developing her findings so they can be more applicable in the clinical setting. 

 

Tammy is a valuable member of the Marion Downs Hearing Center (MDHC) team of audiologists. She primarily serves patients of all ages at the Boulder clinic location of MDHC, focusing specifically on hearing aids and testing. Tammy is well respected for her knowledge of Auditory Processing Disorder and is considered the member of the team to consult on this topic. When she isn't seeing patients, Tammy can be found teaching at University of Colorado, Boulder. She chuckles that she has a permanent shadow because students are always working alongside her in the Boulder clinic. She enjoys her role as teacher, finding fulfillment and joy in watching her students, over the course of several semesters, grow in the field as budding audiologists.      

 

At the end of May, Tammy will be going on her 3rd mission trip to China with Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano. The goals of these mission trips are to fit children with properly programmed hearing aids, train professionals on correct fitting of technology, and raise general awareness about the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children in the country. Her eyes light up as she points to the row of donated hearing aids on her desk, ready to be packed and used on the mission trip. All of the hearing aids she and Christie fit are donated aids from patients and hearing aid companies.

 

Even though Tammy will tell you she works 50 hours a week, splitting her time between 100% Audiologist and 100% Professor, she still finds time to have fun. She recently purchased a new condo in Boulder and has been busy moving in. Tammy enjoys playing outside and can be easily enticed to go for a bike ride, a hike, or just about anything in the mountains.

 

If you have hearing aid technology you would like to donate for use on the mission trip to China, contact Tammy at Tammy.Fredrickson@uch.edu.  

 

To make an appointment to be seen at the Boulder clinic location, call 720-848-2800. The Boulder clinic is located at 350 Broadway, Suite #130, Boulder. Hearing tests, hearing aid adjustments and fittings, and cochlear implant mappings can be completed at this location.