18th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 3-5, 2019 • Chicago, IL
THE ANTONIA BRANCIA MAXON AWARD FOR EHDI EXCELLENCE
The 2019 Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence will be presented at the 2019 National EHDI Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. This award honors the life and work of Dr. Antonia Brancia Maxon to promote effective Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs for all newborns, infants, and young children. Dr. Maxon was a pioneer in EHDI programs, beginning with her leadership in the Rhode Island Hearing Assessment Project in the late 1980's. She was one of the first to recognize the feasibility and value of universal newborn hearing screening and was a tireless advocate for connecting screening programs with timely and appropriate diagnosis and early intervention.
Her extensive contributions to creating excellent EHDI programs were abruptly ended by a tragic automobile accident in May of 2007. In memory of her contributions, an Award for EHDI Excellence is presented each year at the National EHDI Meeting to honor an individual who has made outstanding contributions to achieving excellence in EHDI programs nationally or in a particular state or region.
Presentation of the 2019 Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence will be made on Monday March 4, 2019 at the National EHDI Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. More about the National EHDI Meeting, including past nominees and recipients can be found below.
Tina Gonzales Childress
I am nominating Dr. Tina Gonzales Childress for the Antonia Brancia Maxon Award because of the positive impact and difference she has made in the audiology and hearing loss communities. Medical professionals help people because it is their goal and their passion in life to do so during their career. Every now and then, you meet a medical professional who not only does amazing things during their career, but one who also faces the same challenges as the very patients, students, and colleagues they are helping guide and mentor. Tina is amazing because of being able to travel between both the Hearing and Deaf worlds offering invaluable experience to anyone she helps along their hearing loss journey.
Dr. Childress lost her hearing at age 29 in 1999 when she was practicing as an audiologist. She became a Cochlear Implant recipient in 2000. She not only has overcome fears and battles with her own hearing loss, but she has gone on to help children and their families, including professionals, throughout the state of Illinois in D/HH programs. Tina has a unique approach when educating others because of being able to offer both a personal and a professional perspective on hearing loss. Tina also has an excellent understanding of hearing device technology after working for Advanced Bionics. Tina's experience does not stop here though. She is very involved with the community -- helping families and individuals directly as she serves on a variety of Boards, advocacy groups and online forums, she creates hearing loss-related workshops, is fluent in ASL and has presented at past EHDI meetings. With this experience, Tina has become a sought-out lecturer & presenter with areas of expertise in cochlear implants, assistive technology, aural rehabilitation, social media and using apps with individuals with hearing loss. These are all invaluable components of a leader who believes in driving and promoting EHDI excellence.
During the past 20 Tina has helped educate many individuals about what matters most from the very beginning of hearing loss to finding the best quality of life along a journey with hearing loss. Tina has also helped make improvements within the hearing loss industry by creating helpful documentation containing information about assistive learning devices and smart phone apps that are available, what they do, and how they can help improve the quality of life when hearing loss exists. Many of these educational documents that Tina has created have been utilized by D/HH communities and by hearing device companies.
Tina has been recognized for many of her accomplishments and achievements over the years. She is the recipient of the Nancy Lee McKinley Leadership Mentoring Award, the Oticon Focus On People Award, the Cheryl de Conde Johnson Award by Phonak & the King Jordan Award for Distinguished Achievement by the ALDA board of directors just to name a few. Tina stands out among many professionals because of her skill, her attributes and her unique experience with hearing and hearing loss.