Profile of Marion Downs

Marion Downs is Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She has spent her professional life promoting the early identification of hearing problems in children. She has published almost 100 articles and books on the subject, and has lectured and taught extensively throughout the United States and in 15 foreign countries. Dr. Downs pioneered the first universal newborn hearing screening project, more than thirty years ago.

Dr. Downs received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota, a M.A. from the University of Denver, and an Honorary Doctorate of Human Services from the University of Northern Colorado. Her honors include two gold medals of achievement, one from the University of Colorado and one from the University of Minnesota; the Medal of the Ministry of Health of South Vietnam; the Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; the American Auditory Society Carhart Memorial Lectureship Award; and the International Audiology Society Aram Glorig Award.

The Marion Downs National Center for Infant Hearing is dedicated to pursuing the mission begun by Dr. Downs more than 30 years ago. Early identification and intervention of hearing loss is a basic human right which should be available to all infants who are deaf or hard of hearing. Marion's vision and enthusiasm continue to be a driving force fueling the activities of the Marion Down's National Center for Infant Hearing.

An Appreciation,
by Marion Downs

If one is lucky, there is a time in one's life when all of the vectors of the universe seem to have come together, and the perfect Moment of Truth occurs. Such a time was mine when I learned that the Colorado group had obtained a grant to further Universal Newborn Hearing Screening not only in Colorado but in other parts of the country. It was the culmination of the dream I had been pursuing for forty five years, and I knew it was the right thing. Imagine my gratitude to those audiologists who had worked so hard to make my dream--and theirs--come true.

They knew--as I had known all those years--that finding hearing impaired babies at birth, and beginning intervention promptly, was requisite to the babies' optimal development--intellectually, linguistically, and orally. Initially, this knowledge was pragmatic and experimental, for there were only theoretical concepts supporting the belief. But no one was surprised when the hard data came in demonstrating that identification and intervention must be accomplished well before six months of age in order for optimal development to occur.

It was a good thing that we didn't wait for the data to come in, but began experimenting with newborn screening early on. I blush when I think of all the things we tried: bells, squeeze toys, clackers--the whole gamut. We thought we were making progress when two instrument companies developed electronic instruments producing sounds that were filtered, and could be measured. Alas, these were gross tests, and depended on subjective judgments, so perhaps as many hearing defects were missed as were found. Fortunately, even the controversies over these techniques raised an awareness of the need to find hearing loss early.

Then came the demonstrations of the effectiveness of electrophysiological testing and of Otoacoustic Emissions--and the rest is history. We had the Will, and we had the Way, and from then on it became a marketing program, which the Colorado grant project and the Marion Downs National Center for Infant Hearing (Mirablile Dictu!), is pursuing.

My deepest gratitude goes to those who have made my dream come true, both in Colorado and the rest of the country. God Bless!