03/10/2022
Welcome to Owl Ears Consulting. We are happy you are here.
Owl Ears Consulting provides personalized guidance and support to parents of infants, babies, kids and teens with hearing loss.
Thousands of babies are born every year with some degree of permanent hearing loss. Thousands more develop hearing loss over time. While universal newborn hearing screening has made it possible to identify hearing loss early, parents often experience devastation and grief when they learn their child has a permanent hearing condition.
While multiple medical provider appointments are necessary and certainly quite helpful, moms and dads have shared that they frequently leave those appointments spinning in confusion over what all was said to them, including the next best steps for their child. This confusion is common when faced with the diagnosis of a chronic condition. Research shows that patients and their family members retain less than 30% of what medical professionals tell them at office visits.
Owl Ears Consulting is passionate about helping parents navigate the hearing loss journey they will take with their child. The road can be twisty and bumpy, and full of stops and starts. With our guidance, we promise you there will be beautiful and memorable scenes along the way.
We promise to lend “all ears” to You!
Owl Ears Consulting owl-bligations Include:
o Undivided attention, support, and guidance to parents following their child’s hearing loss, both before and after testing, hearing device fitting, and at any other time necessary.
o Navigation and guidance toward important next steps moving forward, such as ongoing medical and clinical appointments.
o Guided direction toward local early intervention service options.
o Suggestions and recommendations in regards to private therapy options in your area.
o Information and coaching in regards to school accommodations.
We look forward to guiding you along the twists, bumps, starts, stops and many successes. We know you will take pride in providing your child with a sound beginning. We trust you will embrace becoming your child’s hearing health know-it-owl!.
Owl Ears Consulting is available by phone and Zoom. We are happy to serve parents in all US time zones. Please contact us for rates.
Owl Ears Consulting Provider Bio.
Melissa has over 20 years of experience helping parents navigate the journey of childhood congenital and progressive hearing loss. She holds a clinical doctorate in Audiology (2007). Melissa has held - with excellent standing – professional licenses in Massachusetts, California and Ohio. She obtained her fellowship through the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston (1994-1995), where she realized her passion for whole care pediatric focused audiology. Melissa has held clinical positions at Boston Children’s Hospital (1995-1999), Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (1999-2008) and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Sutter Health (2008-2014). Melissa stepped away from clinic in 2014 to move back to Ohio to raise her three boys. They now reside in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
During her 22 years in practice, Melissa identified hundreds of infants with hearing loss, and evaluated and treated thousands of hearing-impaired children. Melissa served as the audiologist on several multidisciplinary teams. She was often called upon to provide second opinions at the request of physicians, educators and parents. Parents, colleagues, pediatricians and medical specialists have described Melissa not just as a reliable and reputable clinician, but as a hearing care provider who has always gone the extra mile down the road with her patients and their families.
Melissa understands firsthand the devastation and grief a parent endures upon learning of their child’s chronic condition. She has vital mom-experience with Type 1 diabetes, congenital vision impairment and twice exceptionalism. She has chosen to carry a light down her unpredictable roads so she can catch glimpses of wonderfulness along the way.
Disclaimer
The consulting and coaching provided to you by Owl Ears Consulting is provided by a licensed hearing healthcare professional. Nevertheless, this guidance and advice is given for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute medical advice, formal hearing loss diagnoses or clinic-based hearing aid treatment. Always seek medical advice from your child’s physician.
Owl Ears Consulting bases our guidance, coaching and recommendations on the test results, hearing loss diagnosis, and audiological reports you share with us. Owl Ears Consulting does not confirm or deny accuracy or validity of the information you share; therefore, we take no responsibility in our approach to guiding, coaching and recommending should your child’s hearing loss diagnosis, audiograms, hearing device fittings, reports or medical treatment turn out to be inaccurate or invalid.
The guidance, coaching and recommendations we share are intended to serve as a guide. You nevertheless need to know that your ultimate success or failure will be the result of you own efforts, your particular situation and innumerable other circumstances beyond our knowledge and control.
