So often, parents tell us that they wish they would have had a place to learn more about their child’s hearing loss. With learning more, there are also questions: When is the right time to search for a solution? What goes into your child getting a bone anchored hearing system (BAHS)? With an endless number of considerations along the way, it can be a complex journey.
To help answer your questions and introduce you to two parents who have been through the process, on August 25 at 12:00PM EDT, Audiology Online and Oticon Medical will host the live online event Parents’ Perspective: The Decision Making Process for Bone Anchored Hearing Systems for Children.
In this live online event, you’ll hear from Melissa Tumblin and Ann Pipes. Melissa and Ann, who both dedicate their time to helping others seeking hearing solutions and bettering the hearing industry, are both mothers to children who use BAHS.
Meet Melissa and Ann
Melissa Tumblin | Founder and Executive Director of the Ear Community
Melissa Tumblin is mom to Alyssa “Ally” Tumblin, a child born with right sided Microtia and Aural Atresia. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Ear Community, a nonprofit organization that promotes education and public awareness about microtia and atresia. She is also the founder of the Microtia and Atresia Support Group on Facebook. She is a past board member for the Hands & Voices Organization and a past council member for the Parent Advocacy Family Council for Children’s Hospital Colorado (Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing). She has spoken at microtia and atresia surgical conferences and has presented at past EAA (Educational Audiology Association) conferences and for AudiologyOnline. Melissa has 15 years of medical device marketing experience marketing electrosurgical devices and laparoscopic instruments.
More reads related to Melissa and Ear Community:
- Microtia/Aural Atresia: A Parent’s Perspective with Melissa Tumblin (webinar recording)
- Finding Ear Community After Enter a World of Uncertainty
Ann Pipes | Founding board member of Little Ears Hearing Center
Ann Pipes is mom to Winslow Pipes, a child with a bilateral severe to moderate loss due to Pierre Robin Sequence and Stickler Syndrome. She is a founding board member of Little Ears Hearing Center, a non-profit pediatric audiology clinic in Louisville, Kentucky. She has been trained as a parent advocate through the Family Information Network on Disabilities (FIND) and has also worked as a Guide by Your Side through the Kentucky chapter of Hands & Voices. She has spoken on parent panels for both Kentucky Hands & Voices as well as panels sharing parent perspectives and concerns with University of Louisville audiology students as part of their required course work.
More reads about Ann and Winslow:
- Seven-Year-Old Winslow Weighs his Bone Anchored Hearing Options & Chooses the Ponto Plus (video)
- Lasting Support: Breck Pipes Supports Son with Ponto Tattoo
Melissa and Ann will talk about how they’ve approached the decision making process around BAHS for Ally and Winslow.
They’ll also discuss:
- Ally and Winslow’s respective conditions and what they tried prior to the Ponto.
- How they got their start with bone anchored hearing systems and the considerations along the way.
- FM Systems and wireless accessories used at home and in school.
- How will Ally’s family approach the decision of getting an abutment placed for her Ponto and when?
- How did Winslow decide to upgrade from bilateral Pontos on a soft band to having surgery for abutments to wear his Pontos on implants?
What questions do you have for Melissa and Ann? Leave your questions in the comments section below, and we’ll be sure to include them in the Q&A portion of the webinar.