2025 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 9-11, 2025 • Pittsburgh, PA

DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER

  • Two children dressed in playful cowboy outfits. One child, with a hearing aid and a yellow bandana, smiles widely at the camera. The other child, wearing a cowboy hat and a white bandana, laughs joyfully while looking at their friend.
  • A young boy with a cochlear implant stands next to a woman holding a toy, while they both engage in a video call with another woman on a computer screen.
  • A young girl wearing a hijab sits on a woman's lap, both smiling as they listen attentively to a doctor holding a medical instrument.
  • A nurse holding a baby in a medical examination room with aquatic-themed wall decorations. The baby is sitting up and looking at the camera while the nurse uses a medical device to check the baby's hearing.
  • A woman joyfully holds a smiling toddler, who is wearing a hearing device, in a garden filled with blooming white and pink flowers.
  • A female audiologist using a medical device on a small baby girl.
  • A young boy with a cochlear implant looks through a microscope in a laboratory setting.
  • A young boy wearing a bone conduction hearing device plays attentively with a toy mailbox in a playroom.
  • A woman sits at a desk using a desktop computer to video chat with a man and a young girl. The young girl is holding Legos above her head.
  • Two children dressed in playful cowboy outfits. One child, with a hearing aid and a yellow bandana, smiles widely at the camera. The other child, wearing a cowboy hat and a white bandana, laughs joyfully while looking at their friend.
  • A young girl wearing a hijab sits on a woman's lap, both smiling as they listen attentively to a doctor holding a medical instrument.
  • A baby wearing a green hearing aid lying on its back and sucking on its fingers.
  • A female audiologist using a medical device on a small baby girl.
  • A young girl wearing a hijab sits on a woman's lap, both smiling as they listen attentively to a doctor holding a medical instrument.
  • A young child with wet hair and swimming goggle on their hand stands outdoors, wrapped in a blue-striped towel and wearing a cochlear implant.
  • A young boy with a cochlear implant playing with an educational bead maze toy while a woman attentively listens and engages with him.
  • A young boy with a cochlear implant, his hands covered in colorful paint, gently holds the face of a woman who is smiling with her eyes closed.
  • A woman sits on a white couch, reading a picture book to a young child who is wearing a green hearing aid.
  • A young girl sits in a chair, holding a small toy while a female audiologist places a medical device by her ear.
  • A woman touches her fingertips together and smiles at a toddler who is holding a colorful ball.
  • A woman sits on a white couch, reading a picture book to a young child who is wearing a green hearing aid.
  • Two young boys playing with puppets at a table. One boy is wearing a hearing aid.
  • A woman sits at a desk using a desktop computer to video chat with a man and a young girl. The young girl is holding Legos above her head.

Award Winners 2024

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Leah Williamson

Leah Williamson has been instrumental in improving services for children and families with hearing loss in Tennessee. She is the proud parent of a son Malcolm, born with a profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, he uses ASL and has a cochlear implant. As a parent of four children, she has first-hand experience navigating the early intervention system in Tennessee. Malcom’s hearing loss was identified at 3 years old at US Naval Hospital Bangor, during her time serving in the US Navy. The family was immediately connected to resources but not to other families with a similar experience. Leah has used her lived experience to become a role model and advocate for other parents and understands the unique needs of each individual family and child with hearing loss. PEARS (Parents*Empowerment*Access*Resources*Support) is the statewide parent to parent support program for newly identified children with hearing loss in Tennessee, working closely with the Tennessee EHDI team. Leah has served as a parent guide providing direct support to families since September 2015. Leah was recently promoted in 2023 and now leads the PEARS program as the statewide program coordinator. Leah shares educational materials, trainings, and continues to provide 1-1 parent support for families across the state, including working with the local children’s hospital to meet with new parents following a hearing loss diagnosis.

Leah serves on many advisory boards including Memphis Sound Project Advisory Board, University of Memphis Audiology, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Community Advisory Council, Memphis Deaf Community of the MidSouth Community Advisor, Deaf Literacy Initiative, Shared Reading Project (SRP) with 0-5 Outreach, and Tennessee EDHI Needs Assessment Project (TNNAP). Leah works closely with the Tennessee EHDI team who shared this sentiment about her work: "I have been extremely impressed with Leah’s expansive knowledge of Family Voices PEARS and the resources that are available to children and families impacted by hearing challenges. She is a fantastic presenter who captures her audience and engages them as she speaks about the work happening at Family Voices PEARS and with the families that are served. She has been an integral member of the TN EHDI program by sharing ideas for improvement projects and providing professional guidance to me in my role as EHDI Coordinator. Leah is never short of ideas for engagement, resource information, or passion to help a family impacted by a new (or existing) diagnosis." Leah is passionate about this work and has impacted the lives of hundreds of families during her time with the PEARS program. Leah is the type of person who does great things even when no one is looking. She deserves a round of applause and acknowledgement for her leadership, tenacity, and service to the children and families with hearing loss in Tennessee.

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