2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
Award Winner/Nominee Details 2024
Betsy Moog Brooks
It is with respect for her contributions that we nominate Betsy Moog Brooks for the 2024 Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence. Betsy Moog Brooks is the Executive Director of the Moog Center for Deaf Education in St. Louis, Missouri. In her nearly 40 years in the field, Betsy has helped to create pathways for early intervention services for children and their families in Missouri and has shared her expertise nationally.
In an effort to achieve EHDI's 1-3-6 recommendation, Betsy worked with local partners to establish relationships with diagnosing hospitals in Missouri to ensure families would receive information about listening and spoken language services and resources available through Missouri First Steps (Missouri's early intervention program) immediately following identification of hearing loss. Her extensive work at the state level led to the approval of center-based services through Missouri First Steps for children who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth to three years of age. This approval has allowed families across Missouri to access audiology and listening and spoken language services in a singular location in addition to home-based services. In addition, her past research related to teleservices for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families resulted in the approval of virtual services via Missouri First Steps, which has allowed early interventionists to extend their reach to a greater number of children who are deaf or hard of hearing across the state. Betsy continues to support early intervention services in the state of Missouri through her work with legislators and the Missouri First Steps system, and she recently was selected to be one of 18 early intervention providers to work with Missouri First Steps to help improve services to children throughout the state.
Betsy's contributions to the field of deaf education and dedication to listening and spoken language extends beyond Missouri. Betsy shares her knowledge of and experience related to the importance of early identification and early intervention as an instructor in Washington University's Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences, as a national presenter, and as an author. Betsy's book, My Baby and Me: A Book about Teaching Your Child to Talk, has been used by professionals and parents across the country to support the development of listening and spoken language in children who are deaf or hard of hearing for over twenty years. Betsy has served on a number of committees with OPTION Schools and as a reviewer for field-related journals and participates in and encourages ongoing research to improve early intervention services and educational outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Betsy's dedication to early hearing detection and intervention awareness and provision makes her an ideal candidate for the Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence.