Born and raised in South Africa, Brad Dodson came to the United States from Australia. He directed sales and marketing for a health services company focused in Long Term Care and joined ClearSounds in 2008. Brad brings a wealth of experience in developing new and existing markets. He is responsible for managing distribution along with the sales and marketing teams that make up ClearSounds’ Hearing Health Care, Advocacy and Commercial Groups. Brad also leads the product and strategy training team to deliver an extensive range of assistive device and Bluetooth technology training sessions across the country.
Lise Hamlin joined the Hearing Loss Association of America’s (HLAA) national staff as director of public policy and state development in April 2008. Her former employers include the League for the Hard of Hearing in New York City (LHH) and the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC).
Ms. Hamlin is HLAA’s representative on the FCC’s re-chartered Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) and the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC). She also represents HLAA on the ATIS Incubator Solutions Program 4 on Hearing Aid Compatibility with cell phones and on several coalitions working on issues impacting people with hearing loss, including the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance (DHHA), the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network (DHHCAN), the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and the Hearing Aid Tax Credit Coalition. She has also served on the Access Board’s Passenger Vessel Emergency Alarms Advisory Committee, Montgomery County (MD) Senior Citizen Fire Safety Task Force, the E9-1-1 Stakeholders Council. She is an instructor for TDI’s Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN) and was a member of CEPIN’s team that drafted and delivered the course, “Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness.” She has presented that course and emergency preparedness talks around the country alerting consumers and professionals alike to the needs of people with hearing loss in an emergency. In addition, Ms. Hamlin has presented numerous presentations and workshops on issues related to access for people with hearing loss. She has authored several articles for HLAA and TDI on both emergency preparedness and on access issues for people with hearing loss.
Ms. Hamlin has been recognized with a national Oticon Focus on People award, a Spirit of SHHH award and the F. Michael Taff award from the Human Rights Commission of Rockville, MD.
Judy Sexton is the Director of Clarke Pennsylvania Auditory Oral Center. Judy holds a Masters Degree in Education of the Hearing Impaired from Bloomsburg University. She also held a license as a hearing aid specialist in the state of Pennsylvania awarded 1987. She has spent her entire career of 31 years working in the field of auditory oral education. Her work experiences include ten years in the public school system intermediate units as an itinerant hearing therapist and resource room teacher in preschool, elementary, middle and high schools. In addition, Judy taught at Archbishop Ryan School for the Deaf from 1983 until 1997 in the capacity of classroom teacher in preschool, elementary and middle schools. Judy’s last five years at “Ryan School” were as principal.
Some of Judy’s other accomplishments include:
Newly appointed to the Infant Newborn Screening Committee in the state of Pennsylvania
Former President/Quota Club-women’s professional organization dedicated to hearing and speech needs of children and adults
Former President of the St. Bernadette Home and School Association
Presenter at a variety of conferences and conventions related to hearing loss
Committee chair at the A.G. Bell conference 1997
Officer of the PA Chapter of the A.G. Bell Association
Recipient of the Curriculum Quill Award for outstanding contribution to curriculum and instruction.
Judy’s interests include reading, quilting, walking, traveling with her family, gardening and refinishing furniture. She lives in Havertown with her husband, Tim, and three children Kevin, Patrick, and Julianne.
Carissa Moeggenberg completed both a Bachelor’s of Science (1991) and a Master’s of Audiology (1992) from Central Michigan University. Upon completing these degrees she joined the University of Michigan’s Cochlear Implant team where she served as a pediatric audiologist for over 10 years. Following her passion for cochlear implants and rehabilitation of children and adults with a severe to profound hearing loss she joined Advanced Bionics in 2002. Presently she is the Manager of Rehab Programs and in that role develops the aural rehabilitative education programs and resources provided by Advanced Bionics. She is also working on her Doctorate of Audiology degree through Central Michigan University’s Distance Learning Program. Carissa has co-authored several publications on cochlear implantation and has presented nationally on cochlear implantation and aural rehabilitation. She lives in Michigan with her husband and 2 children.
Dr. Gene Bratt is the Chief of the Audiology and Speech Pathology Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Nashville. He received his doctorate in audiology from Vanderbilt University in 1980, and has since been a clinical audiologist at the VA in Nashville. He is has been a funded investigator for most of his tenure with the VA, with research interests in the selection and fitting of hearing aids. He has published his findings and those of his research group on several occasions in professional journals, and has been an invited speaker internationally. He is also an associate professor of audiology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where his teaching interests have centered about clinical audiology and pathologies of the auditory system.
Douglas A. Cotanche is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery and Anatomy & Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine, a Lecturer in the Department of Otology & Laryngology at Harvard Medical School, and a Member of the Affiliated Faculty of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Anatomy from the University of North Carolina in 1983 and did a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cell Biology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1983-1985. His first faculty position was in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Anatomy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC from 1985 to 1987. In 1987 he moved to Boston where he was in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine for ten years before moving to Children's Hospital in 1998.
In 2008 he returned to BUMC with a primary appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology and a joint appointment in Anatomy & Neurobiology. Dr. Cotanche has served as Secretary/Treasurer and a Council Member of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, and has served on the Council of Scientific Trustees of the Deafness Research Foundation, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Central Institute of the Deaf in St. Louis, MO and on numerous hearing-related NIH Study Sections. He is a Section Editor for Hearing Research and a member of the editorial board of Audiology & Neurotology. Dr. Cotanche’s research has focused on the development and regeneration of hair cells and the tectorial membrane in the avian and mammalian cochlea. In 1985 he co-discovered that birds can regenerate their cochlear hair cells after sound damage and regain their hearing. He has continued his research on regeneration and has been a prominent force in the drive to develop hair cell regeneration as a potential treatment for sensorineural deafness. Currently the work in his lab is also exploring the therapeutic potential of stem cell transplantation into the damaged mammalian cochlea. Dr. Cotanche also teaches Gross Anatomy to first year medical students in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology where, in 2007, he received the Award for Excellence in Teaching at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Michael A. Harvey provides training and consultation on hearing loss, vicarious trauma and mental health issues. In addition to a private practice in Framingham, Mass., he is an adjunct faculty at Boston University and a consultant faculty at Pennsylvania College of Optometry, School of Audiology, where he teaches on-line courses relating to the psychosocial aspects of hearing loss. Dr. Harvey writes a regularly for Hearing Loss Magazine, for Hearing Loss Association of America, in addition to over 40 articles, his publications include The Odyssey of Hearing Loss: Tales of Triumph, Psychotherapy with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons: A Systemic Model (second addition), and a co-edited book entitled Culturally Affirmative Psychotherapy with Deaf Persons. His most recent book is Listen with the Heart: Relationships and Hearing Loss.
Dr. Harvey is Co-Director of a private, non-profit organization, Dialogue Toward Change, dedicated to providing research, training and consultation services to alleviate the potentially negative impact of witnessing oppression.
Dave Dougall is the Accessibility Program Manager at Research In Motion (RIM), a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of innovative wireless data solutions, including the BlackBerry® family of products and services. In his role which he has held at RIM for the last five years, Dave is responsible for BlackBerry accessibility and all other aspects of RIM’s Accessibility Program. Dave has been involved in the Alliance for Telecommunications Solutions Incubator on Hearing Aid Compatibility, as well as TEITAC Subcommittees providing recommendations for updates on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and guidelines under Section 255 of the US Telecommunications Act. Dave participates in industry trade association Accessibility Working Groups for ITI, TIA, and CTIA.
Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Kettering University (GMI) in Flint, MI and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.
Topics:
HAC Ratings on various BlackBerry Smartphones
Support for Neckloops and Assistive Listening Devices
Data Messaging Options – Email, Text Messaging (SMS), BlackBerry Messenger (IM)
3rd Party IM Clients Available for BlackBerry
3rd Party IP-Relay Clients Available for BlackBerry
Brenda Battat, MA, MCSP, is the executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). She has worked at HLAA for 20 years in a variety of positions including acting executive director, deputy executive director, and director of public policy and state development.
Ms Battat’s vision for HLAA is to eradicate the stigma and increase the general public’s awareness about hearing loss; have hearing loss recognized as a health issue and continue HLAA’s work of helping people face the everyday challenges of living and working with hearing loss.
Ms. Battat has a profound hearing loss and uses a cochlear implant and hearing aid for better hearing. She has a master’s degree in counseling from Indiana University, and a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy with fifteen years of experience working in that field. She has lived and worked in four different countries and taught English in China.
Ms Battat has served on government, professional and business advisory boards including the U.S. Access Board’s Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee, the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer/Disability Advisory Committee, AT&T Advisory Panel on Access and Aging, American and Northwest Airlines Consumer Advisory Committees. Her term on the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders Advisory Council starts in June 2009.
For her work in advocacy she received the Robert H. Weitbrecht Telecommunications Access Award 2007, Oticon Focus on People Advocacy Award 2005, and Self Help for Hard of Hearing People National Access Award 2002.
Nanci Linke-Ellis has been a lifelong advocate for captions since forming Tripod Captioned Films in 1993, and later, InSight Cinema, a non-profit organization that forged alliances with the major film studios and theatre chains to distribute and promote captioned versions of first-run films to deaf and hard of hearing audiences nationwide. Nanci’s outreach and advocacy efforts have grown to include in two new projects: Captions West, an entity to bring live theatre, opera and all forms of captioned entertainment to the DHH communities. She has also formed a new company, known as SightLine Media; along with a group of partners to bring an innovative wireless captioning technology designed for deaf and hard of hearing and deaf-blind audiences to market.
In 1994, Linke-Ellis received her first Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implant, and her second in 2006. She has been a Bionic Ear Association Volunteer since its inception and continues to mentor new and prospective CI users.
Nanci is a member of the HLA-CA Board of Trustees. She founded the Santa Monica chapter of HLAA and is presently part of the HLAA-LA and HLAA-Carlsbad steering committees.
Before her entry into the world of film captioning and advocacy, Linke-Ellis began her career in television with diverse production credits and is a member of the Director's Guild of America. She was given the 1982 Silver Award by the International Film and TV Festival in New York for her short on the Fashion Institute of Technology. She served on the Educational Programs Committee for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) Foundation for 15 years. Linke-Ellis is a member of the Motion Picture Industry’s Digital Cinema Initiative’s Committee created to establish captioning standards and a universal file for digital transmission.
Ms. Linke-Ellis is a member of the Entertainment Industry Council and the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation and Women In Film. Linke-Ellis has also served on the FCC Consumer Disability Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
Ms. Linke-Ellis also serves on the advisory boards of VITAC and RAPIDTEXT captioning companies. She has been honored for her efforts in media access and as a captioning advocate 1982 Outstanding Young Women in America, the 1998 Who's Who of Media, the 2001 Academy of American Audiologists with the “Oticon Focus on People” Award. Additionally she was honored by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) in 2001, Tripod in 2002, and the SHHH-CA State Association in 2005 for her work in Media Access.
Ms. Linke-Ellis received 2007 James C. Marsters Promotion Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to improving the accessibility of telecommunications or media for people in the United through efforts in promotion, marketing, or public relations and in recognition of her past efforts in raising public awareness by consumers, as well as Hollywood film industry through the promotion of movie captioning and the development of a grassroots network of local theaters committed to making the magic of movies accessible to everyone. This award was given at TDI International’s Biennial Conference in San Mateo, CA. In February of this year, she was honored at the Creative Access PAH Festival in Philadelphia for her work in movie captioning access.
Ms. Linke-Ellis lives with her husband in Santa Monica, CA.
Read Transcripts from Previous Webinars with Nancy Macklin:
You might recognize Nancy Macklin from the 1990s when she worked for the organization (then Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.) as the business manager and liaison to the board of trustees. As the director of events and marketing, Nancy enjoys planning HLAA Conventions – after all, Nancy’s philosophy is to work hard, think outside the box, strive to make HLAA a household name, and to have fun. She lives in Silver Spring, MD with her husband and three boys.
Jane R. Madell, PhD, CCC-A/SLP, Cert AVT is Director of the Hearing and Learning Center and co-director of the Cochlear Implant Center at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Professor, Clinical Otolaryngology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and New York Medical College. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1969. Dr Madell is a certified audiologist, speech-language pathologist and auditory verbal therapist. Dr Madell’s clinical and research interests have been in the area of evaluation of hearing in infants and young children, management of hearing loss in children with severe and profound hearing loss, selection and management of amplification including hearing aids, cochlear implants and FM systems, assessment of auditory function, and evaluation and management of auditory processing disorders. Dr Madell has published 3 books, and numerous book chapters, and journal articles. She is a frequent presenter at professional meetings.
Read Transcripts from Previous Webchats with Dr. Ingrao:
Brad Ingrao is an audiologist, Tweeter, freelance technical illustrator, writer, lecturer and technology geek. He has been a long time friend of HLAA and has logged many hundreds of hours on professional and consumer listservs related to hearing loss over the last 15 years.
Paul E. Hammerschlag, MD, FACS
is currently a
Clinical Associate Professor
at NYU School of Medicine Dept. of Otolaryngology, New York. His
areas of expertise include Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss(SSNHL), Surgical Treatment of Hearing Loss, Cochlear Implants, Ménière's Disease, Facial Nerve Reanimation, Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease(AIED), Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Tumors of the ear/skull base, Acoustic Neuroma, and Stereotaxic Surgery of Acoustic Neuroma.
EDUCATION:
Medical Education
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Internships
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 1972-1973
Residency Training
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Harvard Medical School (Otolaryngology) 1974-1977; Virginia Mason Hospital (General Surgery) 1973-1974
Clinical Fellowships
Harvard Medical School (Otolaryngology) 1976-1977
Deanna Baker graduated from the American Institute of Commerce, Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1981. She reported as an official and freelance reporter in the Quad City area until 1983 when she moved to Seattle. While in Washington state, she was an official for four years, owned her own freelance agency and worked with Larsen & Smith Court Reporters, as well as held offices within the Washington Shorthand Reporters Association, including President from 1992-1993.
In 1992 Deanna founded Captioning Northwest, Inc., which provided realtime and captioning services, working with large corporations and universities providing captioning services as well as realtime in the classroom.
In 1994 Deanna moved to Tucson and began providing CART services at the University of Arizona working with deaf and hard of hearing students, as well as continuing her freelance captioning work.
In January of 1996 to March 2007, Deanna provided captioning services for the Tucson City Council Meetings.
Shortly thereafter, Deanna began captioning national and international programming for a variety of news, sports, educational and corporate programming across the country.
In 1999 Deanna was appointed to the Tucson Commission on Disability Issues.
In June of 2000 Deanna was elected to the Board of Trustees of Self Help for Hard of Hearing, Inc. (now Hearing Loss Association of America) and Secretary of the Board 2003-2004. For 2001-2003, Deanna was chair of the NCRA Captioning Task Force and in 2004 was appointed to the NCRA Captioning Community of Interest and in 2005 was appointed Chair. At the NCRA convention in 2005, Deanna was honored with being named a Fellow in the Academy of Professional Reporters.
Currently, Deanna is a freelance realtime captioner/consultant residing in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Roger Goldblatt is responsible for advising the Bureau Chief of FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau on consumer outreach and consumer education activities related to the digital transition (DTV). Currently he is serving as the Pacific Region Coordinator for the Commission’s Nationwide DTV outreach program. He has concentrated his efforts on the Commission’s Outreach towards underserved communities, such as non English speaking, low income, seniors, children and the disabled community. Mr. Goldblatt has created our DTV deputy program and leads presentations of the program nationally.
Mr. Goldblatt has been with the FCC since the year 2000. Prior to joining the Commission, he was the Federal Outreach Manager for the federal Government’s Y2K transition, working with other federal and local agencies, businesses and associations. He created and managed the Y2K federal hotline and Web site, organized informational town hall meetings and worked extensively with the media. As a senior public affairs officer at the Department of Labor, he managed outreach programs for their Pension Welfare & Benefits Administration. He worked at the White House as the director of the Health Care Reform Information Center and then Director of the Office of Special Projects. Over his long federal career, Mr. Goldblatt has developed a reputation for creating consumer outreach programs on sensitive and difficult to understand issues. He has also written and designed hundreds of publications and outreach tool kits.
Mr. Goldblatt has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelors in Communications from George Washington University.
Samuel Trychin, Ph.D. is currently a full-time faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Penn-State, The Behrend College in Erie, PA. Dr. Trychin also provides psychological consulting services to Stairways Behavioral Health in Erie, PA. Previously, he was the Director of Training at the Mental Health Research and Training Center for Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened Adults, California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego, California (1994-1997). Prior to that, he was a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Living With Hearing Loss Program at Gallaudet University, Washington, DC (1981-1995).
Dr. Trychin also has a private practice in which conducts on-line and self-study classes for people who have hearing loss and their families. He also continues to conduct national training programs, classes, and workshops for people who are hard of hearing, their family members, and professionals who provide services to them. His specialty is the application of psychological concepts, principles, and procedures to problems and issues related to hearing loss.
Dr. Trychin has written 15 books, authored several professional book chapters and journal articles, and produced a variety of videotapes related to coping with hearing loss. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and training programs across the United States and in Canada. He and his wife Janet, an audiologist, frequently conduct workshops together.
Dr. Trychin received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the George Washington University, Washington, DC. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, is listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, and is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania. He is currently the Mental Health and Rehabilitation Advisor to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). Previously, he was a member of the Advisory Committees for Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Trychin is hard of hearing himself and was issued his first hearing aids while serving in the United States Air Force. He has been a hearing aid user since that time. Further information about Dr. Trychin’s program for people who are hard of hearing, their family members, and professionals who provide services to them can be obtained at www.trychin.com.
Read Transcripts from Previous Webinars with Dr. Seidman:
Michael D. Seidman, MD attained both his B.S. in Human Nutrition and M.D. from the University of Michigan. After a five-year residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) he completed a fellowship in Otologic/Neurotologic and Skull Base Surgery at the Ear Research Foundation in Florida.
Seidman is the Director-Division of Otologic/Neurotologic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery for HFHS, Past Director of Otolaryngology Research Laboratory, the Co-Director of the Tinnitus Center, the Chair of the Center for Integrative Medicine for HFHS, Director of Product Development (nutritional science/projects) for ViSalus Sciences, a past President of the Michigan Otolaryngology Society, and was elected in 2009 to be the next Chair of the Board of Governors for the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.
Seidman is an active scientist and has extramural funding from the National Institute of Health and other major institutions. He is considered an expert on the molecular basis of aging, noise induced hearing loss, otologic/neurotologic-skull base surgery, all aspects of ear, nose, throat, head and neck surgery, tinnitus, herbal therapies, nutrition/antioxidants and their relationship to health, sports and aging and complementary/integrative medicine.
Seidman lectures internationally on such topics; has more than 80 major publications; a book published by Time Warner “Save Your Hearing Now” numerous awards including being honored as one of the top Doctors in the USA. He has been interviewed on Good Morning America, CNN and other national news venues and has been quoted nationally and internationally in such magazines as “O”, “Shape”, Women’s World, Men’s Health, The Wall Street Journal, New York and the London Times
He has been recognized by the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, when he was honored with the Clinical Practitioner Excellence Award (given to one Otolaryngologist each year) and has been awarded two patents, one on a supplement that positively effects age-related hearing loss and a second one that is able to determine an individuals “molecular age”. Additionally, he has multiple patents pending on, aging, mitochondrial function endurance enhancement, Alzheimer’s disease, and surgical tools and techniques.
Seidman is also a Co-Editor for the International Tinnitus Journal, the Associate Editor for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery journal and is on the Editorial Review Board for seven major Otolaryngology Journals and the American Journal of Chinese Medicine.
He has been appointed to the State Medical Board of Audiology (appointment by Gov. Granholm), the Scientific or Medical Advisory Board of the Hearing Loss Association, the Life Extension Foundation, IntraEar, the Ear Research Foundation, Arches Company, Auris Medical, the American Tinnitus Association, Gel Tech (producers of homeopathic remedies), BASF (specifically on the work for SAMe) and WebMD (work related to analysis of weight loss/nutrition software).
In 1997 he founded Body Language Vitamin Co, whose emphasis is to promote health and enhance the lives of everyone through responsible vitamin, mineral, herbal and phytonutrient supplementation as well as dietary modifications, exercise and stress reduction.
He has also served as a consultant to professional athletes, and has been an advisor to teams in the NHL, NFL and the ABA
.
Marcia Dugan is the author of Living with Hearing Loss released by Gallaudet University Press in 2003. The easy-to-read guide provides helpful advice on a wide range of subjects from living alone with a hearing loss to going to the hospital to legal advice. The information in the compilation of 41 short chapters reflects Dugan’s own experience with hearing loss and the knowledge she acquired while finding out what to do about it in order to remain in the mainstream.
Marcia Dugan is president of the Rochester chapter of Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and past president of the HLAA National Board of Trustees of HLAA. Dugan has a binaural hearing loss and uses an eclectic approach to enhance communication including, hearing aids, speech, assistive technology, and sign language.
A graduate of Antioch College in Ohio, she has worked as a research biochemist, a teacher of Spanish, and for 25 years in public relations area, most recently as director of public affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. In 1999, she was appointed by Governor Pataki to the New York State Hearing Aid Dispenser Advisory Committee, and currently serves as president of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People, Inc. Dugan is the 1998 winner of the Oticon “Focus on People Award” that recognizes “remarkable people making a difference in their families, communities, and the world...people who contribute, succeed, teach, create, improve, and inspire....and who happen to be hard of hearing.”
Marcia B. Dugan, 78, died February 7, 2010 at her home, surrounded by her loving family. Dugan was a long-time community volunteer, writer, speaker, and advocate for issues related to hearing loss.
