2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/16/2026 | 2:25 PM - 2:55 PM | Past, Present, Future: A Deaf Professional & Parent of Deaf Teenagers’ Perspective of Top 10 Lessons Learned in Early Intervention | City Terrace 9
Past, Present, Future: A Deaf Professional & Parent of Deaf Teenagers’ Perspective of Top 10 Lessons Learned in Early Intervention
Receiving a diagnosis that a child’s hearing falls outside typical ranges can be disorienting, and families must quickly navigate intertwined medical, educational, and social systems. This session traces the past, present, and future of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) through the lens of a Deaf professional and parent of Deaf teenager, distilling ten lessons learned across lived, clinical, and policy experience. Looking back, understanding EHDI’s history prevents repeating past mistakes and reveals how a predominantly medical/deficit framework has shaped practice. In the present, participants will see how balancing that lens with perspectives of a Deaf Professional (both as a product and provider of EHDI systems), building broad stakeholder networks, and infusing strong mentoring and family-to-family support can change trajectories. The session underscores individualized pathways, exposing children to a range of communication, language, educational, and technology options, because what works for one child may not work for another. It also centers the child’s voice in decisions (including IEPs), affirms that effective advocacy does not require a Ph.D., and treats technology as a double-edged sword that must be leveraged thoughtfully. Finally, attendees will learn to pair compelling stories with data and evidence when requesting accommodations and services. Together, these lessons offer practical strategies families and professionals can use now—while shaping a more equitable EHDI future.
- Identify historical patterns in EHDI to avoid repeating systemic mistakes
- Describe how to balance medical frameworks with social/cultural Deaf identity
- Apply mentoring, networking, and family-support structures to strengthen outcomes
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Presenters/Authors
Tommy Horejes
(Co-Presenter), The Access Foundation, Thorejes@gmail.com;
Thomas “Tommy” Horejes, Ph.D. has decades of academic and professional experience in legal policy & advocacy. His training in both the academic and professional canon is a multi/inter/trans disciplinary focus on law, advocacy, social justice & impact, policy studies, communication accessibility, and public administration. He takes great passion doing research & development on law, data, policy trends, education, consumer service, and innovation with the denominating factor in making a positive social impact to and for all.
Academically, Dr. Horejes has 15+ years of teaching disability policy, law, and sociology in higher education, 13+ peer-reviewed published articles including (Re)conceptualizing Disability Policy Frameworks for the Journal of Policy Practice, and presented 70+ scholarly works on legal policy, accessibility, education, and justice studies for industry conferences, including the International Sociological Association and the American Educational Research Association.
Professionally, he is current Chief Advocacy Officer for SignWow and former Director of Policy & Advocacy for Telecommunications for the Deaf/HH (TDI) as a national leader in policy advocacy, education, and innovation to foster full accessibility, equity, and inclusion in Information and Communications Technology. Prior to SignWow, Thomas was Associate Provost for Gallaudet University; and Executive Director of Deaf Empowerment Awareness Foundation (DEAF, Inc.), a non-profit organization dedicated to empower, raise Awareness, and bridge a sustainable Foundation of advocacy, communication and accessibility for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, and the Hearing communities. He was also a former advocate for the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD), the largest deaf-run non-profit organization that provided legal advocacy and empowerment to deaf and hard of hearing consumers.
Tommy currently serves on the Board for State of Maryland’s Hands & Voices, Deaf Youth Sports Foundation (dysf.org) and member of Maryland Department of Health’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Advisory Council. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri where he attended Central Institute for the Deaf (CID), he?? currently lives in rural Maryland with his wife and blended family of very active children. When he is not busy with legal policy advocacy work, he enjoys watching his kids play baseball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball along with road biking, cooking, and tending to his small farm and animals.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with .
Nature: Board Member of Maryland's Hands & Voices .
Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with .
Nature: Board Member of Maryland's Hands & Voices .
Teri Urban
(Primary Presenter), Virginia Hands & Voices, teri@vahandsandvoices.com;
Terese ‘Teri’ Urban lives with her husband and their three children in Virginia. Her oldest child (15 years old) was identified at birth with bilateral sensorineural non-syndromic hearing loss, commonly known as Connexin 26. Her daughter’s loss was progressive, and she now utilizes bilateral cochlear implants and American Sign Language to understand the world around her. Teri’s passion for bringing deaf and hard of hearing children together and providing resources for families began in Vermont when she successfully resurrected Vermont Hands & Voices. After relocating to Virginia in 2016, she has continued her leadership efforts as Chair for Virginia Hands & Voices. She joined the team at Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss in 2022 as Director of Advocacy and Parent Outreach to help build a bridge between educators and families and the resources used. Teri is a member of the Virginia EHDI Advisory Committee and sits on numerous local and national committees that focus on the overall success of deaf and hard of hearing children. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with loved ones.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.