Alyssa Tumblin is honored as a HearStrong Champion for advocating for others with hearing loss

Alyssa Tumblin, 2019 HearStrong Champion (Denver, CO)

On Thursday, May 2nd, in Denver, CO, Alyssa Tumblin, Co-Founder of the Ear Community Organization, was honored as a HearStrong Champion by President, Ed Keller, of the HearStrong Foundation. Ally was recognized for being an amazing advocate for helping educate other children who also have hearing loss and helping them realize that they are not alone and can be anything in life, even with hearing loss and wear hearing aids. Ally was asked a series of questions in addition to why she likes wearing her hearing aid and her response was “because it helps me hear better.” Ally was honored with a beautiful ceremony and dinner with over 100 Audiologists, hearing specialists, and hearing device manufacturer representatives including EarQ and Oticon, Inc. Vice President of Oticon, Inc., Rasmus Borsting, awarded Ally her gold medal as a HearStrong Champion and was delighted to meet the Tumblin Family and hear their story. Ed Keller also asked Ally’s mom, Melissa Tumblin, to speak about the Ear Community Organization and to share their story about Ally’s journey with unilateral hearing loss (aural atresia) and microtia.

Rasmus Borsting (VP of Oticon, Inc.) awarding Ally with her HearStrong gold medal.

Melissa Tumblin spoke about how unilateral hearing loss is an invisible disability and how “one good ear is not always good enough.” She explained how “everyone’s hearing loss experience is unique because of how our brains manage our hearing loss differently.” Melissa also shared some key take-a-ways of what she and Ally have both learned, together, on their road with hearing loss and how they utilize this learned information and share it as helpful knowledge with others. Melissa said one of the highlights of the night was meeting a team of audiologists from the Grand Cayman Islands who work for Cayman Hearing Center in George Town. Dr. Stine Lawton-Smith and Katie (Cayman Hearing Center’s patient care coordinator) shared how they knew all about the Ear Community Organization and how they help share our organization’s information with their patients who have Microtia and Atresia. There were hugs, tears of joy and laughter with these two as they genuinely appreciated the passion behind the Ear Community

The Tumblin girls with Dr. Stine Lawton-Smith and Katie (patient care manager) and her daughter of Cayman Hearing Center

Organization and meeting the Tumblin family. Ally and Melissa also met a couple of local audiologists from Colorado, including Dr. Meg Cates from Louisville, CO who was very excited to meet Ally in person and give her a big hug for all of her advocacy she has spread about Microtia and Atresia. Dr. Cates is looking forward to attending the Ear Community Microtia and Atresia picnic in Broomfield, CO this July.

Ally and Melissa Tumblin with Dr. Meg Cates of Hearing Solutions in Louisville, CO

This past February (26th), Ally along with her family and eight additional Ear Community families, advocated for hearing device insurance coverage during

Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. For Better Hearing and Speech Month this may, as part of a homework assignment for Ally, she wrote letters to Congressman Joe Neguse and Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, including Congressmen David McKinley and Mike Thompson, who sit on the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus, asking for their help with mandating hearing device coverage, nationwide. Especially, for bone conduction hearing devices, the kind of hearing device that Ally and thousands of children and adults who are just like her wear.

Here are some great memories from Ally’s special night!

Thank you,
The Ear Community Organization
www.EarCommunity.org