EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021

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Award Winners 2008

2008 Winners
Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence

(Excerpts from 2008 Nomination Letters are included below)

Judith Gravel

The EHDI community lost one of its most admired, loved, and effective proponents on the morning of December 31, 2008 when Judy Gravel passed away after a long battle with cancer. She will be remembered as a pioneer who changed the world for children with hearing loss and their families. At the time of the award she was serving as Director of the Center for Childhood Communication at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where she also held the William P. Potsic Chair in Pediatric Otolaryngology and Childhood Communication.

Over the years Judy made innumerable contributions to EHDI-related professional and scientific organizations at the state, national, and international levels. In fact, it is impossible to pick up an article or book chapter on pediatric audiology without seeing multiple references to her work. She always had a keen sense for what was timely and important. Moreover, she combined creativity and problem solving ability with a positive attitude and a steadfast determination to see a project through to successful completion. It is not surprising that Judy participated in nearly every important pediatric audiology task force and working group for the past 30 years. For many years she was a member of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing, which she chaired from 2003-2005. Members of that committee remember her as a master of consensus building who was able to achieve cooperation and compromise without sacrificing her ideals or core principles. Those who have worked with Judy in any capacity knew her to be a person of exceptional honesty, civility, and personal integrity. She will be missed greatly by the EHDI community, but her contributions will continue to improve the lives of children with hearing loss and their families for many years to come.

Mary Hartnett

Mary Hartnett is the Executive Director for the Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (MCDHH). Under her leadership, the 2007 legislative session was a historic year for Minnesota EHDI policy with five EHDI related bills being passed.

1. Newborn Hearing Screening Mandate - a $20 increase in the bloodspot fee which will provide $1.3 million a year to ensure all babies are screened for hearing loss.
2. Parent Guides for Families with Hearing Loss - $100,000 a year to train guides to provide family support and unbiased information about language, medical, and educational choices.
3. Hearing Aid Loaner Bank - $70,000 a year for a program director.
4. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Mentors - $40,000 per year to teach sign language in the home to families of children with hearing loss.
5. Statewide Education EHDI Coordinator - $40,000 per year to support evidence-based early intervention practices for infants with hearing loss; and provide training, outreach, and use of technology to increase consistency in statewide service provision.

Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert summed Mary's work by saying "Mary is a tenacious advocate who believes in the right cause with passion. There is no way that these initiatives would have passed without her direct involvement in moving them forward."

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2008 Nominees
Nominees for 2008 Award