WARRENVILLE, IL–Tina Childress, an educational audiologist known for her dedicated outreach to children and adults with hearing loss, has been named recipient of the 2014 Cheryl DeConde Johnson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Educational and Pediatric audiology. Childress, who works at CASE Audiology in Champaign, IL, and as a cochlear implant outreach specialist and trainer for the Illinois School for the Deaf, will be honored by Phonak, LLC, of Warrenville, IL.
Tina Childress
As a late-deafened adult who received her first cochlear implant in 2000 and began using a second one in 2005, Childress is especially well qualified to serve as a guide and mentor to people of all ages with hearing loss.
According to Phonak’s announcement, Childress is a popular presenter on a variety of topics, including cochlear implants, assistive technology, leveraging social media, and using apps for deaf education and audiology. She has spoken all over North America, conducted numerous webinars, and written for periodicals in the hearing care field.
Childress is active in local and national organizations, serving as a strong advocate for accessibility and sharing resources. Among the positions she has held are chairperson of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission and a member of the Illinois Families for Hands & Voices advisory board, the Educational Audiology Association’s Social and Electronic Media Committee, and various cochlear implant support groups.
In 2013, Childress, who holds a master’s in audiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received an Oticon Focus on People Award as first-place winner in the practitioner category.
Phonak named this annual award after its first recipient, Cheryl DeConde Johnson, EdD. She was honored in 2007 for a distinguished career in educational audiology, including 15 years as director of audiology and deaf education programs for Colorado, a state that has long been a pioneer in the area of pediatric audiology.
