2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/17/2024 | 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM | EHDI 101 | Centennial E-F
EHDI 101
Presentation:
3478265_16531SandraBattiste.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
3478265_16531KarlWhite.RTF
Presenters/Authors
Karl White
(Primary Presenter), Utah State University, karl.white@usu.edu;
Dr. White is a Professor of Psychology, the Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education, and the founding Director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management. He has been the PI or Co-PI for over $50 million of competitively awarded research. His work has been recognized with awards from such diverse organizations as the Deafness Research Foundation, the American Association for Speech Language and Hearing, The Swedish Society of Medicine, and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. He has hundreds of publications and presentations at scholarly meetings, and has been an invited speaker to more than 35 countries. He also serves on many national and international advisory groups for organizations such as the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Allison Sedey
(Co-Presenter), University of Colorado-Boulder, Allison.Sedey@colorado.edu;
Allison Sedey is a speech pathologist, audiologist, and researcher. She is currently the director of the Early Language Outcomes Lab (ELO) at the University of Colorado-Boulder and is the assessment and accountability coordinator for the early intervention outreach program at the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind. Dr. Sedey received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studied language acquisition in children who are deaf/hard of hearing as well as in children who have Down syndrome. For the past 30 years, she has served as the director or project coordinator on a variety of grant-funded research projects examining predictors of language outcomes in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Independent contractor from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with University of Colorado-Boulder
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blinda.
Nature: Salary received from a Cooperative Agreement with the CDC at the time of this project.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Tommy Horejes
(Co-Presenter), Vermont Department of Health, Thorejes@gmail.com;
Linda A. Hazard Ed.D. CCC-A, is the Program Director for the Vermont Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (VTEHDI) and an audiologist. She earned her audiology degree from Boston University and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Policy from the University of Vermont. Dr. Hazard is one of the Co-Past Presidents of the Directors of Speech and Hearing Programs in State Health and Welfare Agencies (DSHPSHWA). She currently represents DSHPSHWA on three committees, Audiology Quality Consortium (AQC), Health Care Economics Committee (HCEC) and the Parent Choice Alliance. Additionally Dr. Hazard has been appointed by the Vermont Governor to serve on the Vermont Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind Advisory Council and the Vermont Interagency Coordinating Council. Dr. Hazard is also one of the Vermont State Champions for the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. She has several scientific publications to her credit, including peer reviewed articles and has presented both nationally and internationally. In February of 2017 Dr. Hazard received the prestigious Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence and published a chapter for the EHDI I book on qualitative research. In April of 2023 Dr Hazard received the University of Vermont Medical Center Leadership award.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with VTEHDI Program is supported by HRSA funding.
Nature: Salary and Fringe from HRSA funding for the VTEHDI Program.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Lisa Kovacs
(Co-Presenter), Hands & Voices , lisakovacs@handsandvoices.org ;
Lisa Kovacs is the Director of Programs for Hands & Voices Headquarters and on the core management team of the Family Leadership in Language and Learning (FL3) Center. She and her husband Brian have four young adult children including her son who is hard of hearing/deaf. Lisa was the 2019 Antonio Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence recipient. Her professional interest include; Parent Advocacy; Implementation of parent participation and engagement in systems building; Parent to Parent support; Deaf Education Reform; IDEA, ESSA, Part C and Part B Training to Parents, and Parent Leadership Training and Development.
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.
Arielle Spellun
(Co-Presenter), Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, arielle.spellun@bmc.org;
Arielle H. Spellun MD is a hearing Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Clinically, Dr. Spellun conducts developmental assessments and provides longitudinal care for children with developmental differences and disabilities with a special focus on caring for children who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. Her research focuses on supporting DHH children and their families in the pediatric medical home and educating clinical providers on how to care for DHH children from a Deaf health equity perspective in order to improve linguistic and developmental outcomes.
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.
Erika Odom
(Co-Presenter), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, iyo7@cdc.gov;
CAPT Erika Odom (Captain, United States Public Health Service) has spent 15 years shaping science and programs using a health equity perspective grounded in biopsychosocial frameworks in human development. She received her PhD in Applied Developmental Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, researching maternal mental health and the association with various developmental outcomes for young children. CAPT Odom joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer where her work focused on promoting supportive environments for women who choose to breastfeed. She then went on the serve with the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, honing skills in registry data collection, evaluation and translational research within populations living with blood disorders and that have been systematically marginalized in healthcare. From 2014-2023, CAPT Odom served as an Epidemiologist in the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. There she excelled in program management and developed subject matter expertise focused on the pre-hospital environment and improving the stroke and cardiac chain of survival. In her most recent tenure, she serves as the Team Lead for the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program, working with a team of passionate public health professionals, shaping the future of early hearing surveillance and data quality improvement.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Nature: .
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Sandra Battiste
(Co-Presenter), Sandra@example.com;
Sandra Battiste has over 15 years of government experience in Public Health. She has worked within a myriad of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programs including Metabolic and Newborn Hearing screening, Home Visitation, Safe Sleep and some adolescent health programs. Her career began with the District of Columbia (DC) Government where she worked with the both the Metabolic Screening and EHDI Programs. Eventually she became the EHDI Coordinator for DC. After seven years with the DC Government, Sandra took the opportunity serve as a public health analyst for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) where her work with EHDI continues. Not only is she the project officer (PO) for some impressive EHDI programs but she also is the PO for the Family Leadership in Language and Learning Center (also known as the FL3 Center). Additionally, Sandra also works with the Family-to-Family Health Information Centers Program. Sandra serves on several work groups within the Bureau and across agencies.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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