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STAFF
Paula Rosenthal, J.D. is the founder and editor of HearingExchange.com. Hearing impaired since the age of three, Paula was raised orally. She is now profoundly deaf and a candidate for a cochlear implant. Since her graduation from law school, Paula has been involved in various entrepreneurial ventures that have become the building blocks of HearingExchange. In September 2000, Paula realized her dream of assisting others with hearing loss by creating HearingExchange, a community for people with hearing loss, parents of deaf and hard of hearing children and professionals who work with them. She is responsible for many areas of HearingExchange including creative content, research and information, marketing and public relations. Paula is married and a mother of three children, one of whom is also hearing impaired. Contact her at editor@hearingexchange.com.
Read more about Paula
here...
Tracy Mejias is the creative talent at HearingExchange. As our web designer and webmaster, Tracy's numerous
responsibilities include cohesive organization of content, graphic design and layout. "Working with HearingExchange has added a new dimension to my professional work," says Tracy. In addition to HearingExchange, Tracy is the founder and webmaster for
SwapMakeup.com, The fun place to swap makeup, bath and body products, fragrances and so much more! Why pay full price when you can buy them
when you can swap? Visit her site today and setup your account.
EXPERTS
 Dr. Pat Chute is the Cochlear Implant Expert at
HearingExchange. She is an Associate Professor at Mercy College in New
York. She is the Coordinator of Audiology, the Director of Research and a
member of the Board of Directors of the Children's
Hearing Institute
an
organization that raises money to support research related to hearing and
its disorders. She was formerly the director of the Cochlear Implant
Center at Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital,
both in New York. She has been active in the implant field since 1979 and
has written over 40 publications including "Children
with Cochlear Implants in Educational Settings." Dr. Chute is an expert on cochlear
implants, implantable hearing aids and rehabilitation for children and
adults.
 Ira Springer, AuD., FAAA is an audiologist in private
practice in New York. He has dispensed hearing aids and assistive devices for 36
years. He is a member of the American Academy of Audiology, the Academy of
Dispensing Audiologists, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
as well as other professional associations. He is also the co-founder of
the Hearing Care Group. Ira received his
professional doctorate in audiology in May 2001. He welcomes your questions about hearing aids and
assistive technology.
 Linda Daniel, MA/MS Rehabilitative Audiologist./Cert. Auditory-Verbal
Therapist - graciously offers her
time as the resident expert in Auditory-Verbal Therapy for
HearingExchange. She is the aural rehabilitation specialist on the
cochlear implant team at Dallas Otolaryngology Associates. In addition to
being a Licensed Audiologist, she has an additional Master's degree in
Communication Disorders. Linda is a Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist
and the owner/director of HEAR In
Dallas, a private practice in aural rehabilitation and Auditory-Verbal
therapy.
 Lisa Simmons is the Parent Support Expert
at HearingExchange. Lisa's research, knowledge and experience have been
assisting many HearingExchange parents in their advocacy efforts. Among
her many credentials, Lisa Simmons is a licensed teacher and certified
Education Advocate. She has 15 years of experience in family advocacy.
Over the last decade, Lisa has lectured extensively on disability issues
in public arenas and private consultations. She is the founder of The
Ideal Lives Project and its related website, IdealLives.com,
a community for parents, teachers and professionals who care about
individuals with disabilities. Lisa's recent publication is an e-book
entitled, "The Internet Resource Guide for Parents & Disability
Professionals."
 Neil
Bauman, Ph.D. is an expert in hearing loss coping skills, ototoxic
drugs and tinnitus. He was born with a severe loss and became an excellent
speechreader at an early age. Neil knows and practices numerous ways to
cope with being hard of hearing in a hearing world. He has the unusual
distinction of having a hearing loss as well as being the son of a hard of
hearing parent, the brother of a hard of hearing sibling and the parent of
a hard of hearing child. For the past decade, he has been researching,
writing, teaching and speaking on various hard of hearing issues. Neil
writes a regular column called “You Were Asking…” for the SayWhat
Club’s On-line Voices magazine. He is also the author of seven books on
hearing loss. His books, “Grieving For Your Hearing Loss” and “When
Your Ears Ring--Cope With Your Tinnitus--Here’s How” have helped many.
He is just completing a major book, “Ototoxic Drugs Exposed” that
documents the many drugs and chemicals that damage our ears. Visit Neil's
informative website at http://www.hearinglosshelp.com.
CONTRIBUTORS
 Dorothy P. Dougherty, MA, CCC-SP,
is a Speech/Language Pathologist and author of How to Talk to Your
Baby: A Guide to Maximizing Your Child's Language And Learning Skills. For 24 years, Ms. Dougherty has worked with children and adults in school,
clinical, and private settings. She obtained her bachelor's degree in
Speech Pathology from West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1978, her
master's degree in Speech Pathology from the College of New Jersey in
Trenton in 1980, and her Certificate of Clinical Competency from the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1981. In her book, she
shows busy parents how to enhance a young child's language skills as they
go about daily life activities. How children learn to talk, what to
expect at different ages, and brain boosting tips from birth to three
years are also included.
 Margie Littell Ulrich, CCC-A is a clinical
audiologist and a contributing writer at HearingExchange. She practices
audiology at the Mid-East Tennessee Regional Speech and Hearing Center in
Dayton. She is also the chairman of the Children's Wellness Council of
Tennessee. Previously, Margie worked as a teacher of the deaf and hearing
impaired and was the principal of an elementary school. She has written
for Hearing Health Magazine, The Hearing Journal and has a semi-monthly
column on communication issues in the Herald-News in Tennessee.
Chat Hosts
 Jan Julien (screen name "Torch") is the chat host on Tuesdays at 9pm Eastern.
Jan's chats are open for all adults with hearing loss including those who have
been late deafened. Canadians will especially enjoy Jan's chats as she is
employed by the Canadian Hearing Society (http://www.chs.ca)
and is a wonderful source of information on Canadian issues relating to hearing
loss.
Jan has a progressive hearing loss in both ears. She enjoys working to raise
awareness of hearing loss and dispelling the accompanying myths and stereotypes.
Jan has been a nurse for 17 years, is married and has 2 sons.
Message Board Moderators
Mary Shaddox is the co-moderator of the Auditory Neuropathy message board as well as
the co-moderator for Parents of Kids with Cochlear Implants. She is the parent of a son,
Elijah, who was diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy at nine weeks old. He received his
cochlear implant in September of 2001 at the age of 17 months and was turned on the
next month. Mary is a teacher of the deaf in East Texas and uses total communication
with SEE2 in the classroom. At home, Mary signs with Elijah and works on improving his
listening skills. He also attends auditory-verbal therapy twice a week. Elijah is a happy
2 year old now who is doing quite well with his implant. Mary also has a 6 year old son,
Jacob, who has normal hearing.
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