Dr. Sanya Richardson speaking at the hearing aid clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado

In May of 2011, I helped organize and advertise a hearing aid event at Children’s Hospital Colorado as a member of the Parent Advisory Council that I am a part of for Children’s Hospital Colorado.  I asked Ally’s audiologist, Dr. Sanya Richardson, to speak at our event and help educate us on the types of hearing loss, hearing loss technology and what’s new for improved hearing.  It was an educational session that was open to the public.  I also briefly spoke about Microtia and Atresia at this event and offered some helpful tips on BAHAs along with passing Ally’s bone conductive soft band head band processors around from Sophono, Oticon Medical, and Cochlear.  I also told everyone about our 1st Annual Summer Picnic that I would be hosting a couple of weeks from this event.

In May of 2011, my second article is published in the Hands & Voices 2011 Spring National newsletter for The Communicator.  My article is called:  “Mixed Feelings:  Making Surgical Decisions for Children With Microtia/Atresia.”  This article along with my other article “Falling Through the Cracks With Microtia/Atresia” are currently on hand at many surgeon offices.  In addition, both of these articles have been read by numerous audiology students and audiologists, therapists and counselors and kept on hand at many organizations such as the Hands & Voices, schools for the deaf and blind and at various children’s hospitals across our nation.

In April 2011, I attended the “new” Microtia Clinic that Children’s Hospital Colorado now organizes.  At this clinic, I was able to meet with Dr. Peggy Kelly, a Rib Graft surgeon and also Barbara Lillo who is an anaplastologist.  I not only was able to physically touch and see some prosthetic ear models, but I had some of my questions answered as well.  Barb’s father happens to be the “father of anaplastology” as he coined the term, anaplastology as we know it today.  Following the microtia clinic, I waited outside of the clinic for an additional 2.5 hours hoping to catch other Microtia and Atresia families on their way out in hopes of telling them about the summer picnic for M/A families that was planning on hosting during the summer.  Two of the three families I spoke with attended our summer picnic.  🙂