​The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Names 2018 Media Award Winners! Headlines

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has chosen 11 honorees for its 2018 Media Awards! All will be recognized at ASHA’s Convention this November in Boston, Mass. Here are the 2018 Media Award winners:

Print Media

• The New York Times: For Rethinking Baby Food Pouches by Rachel Cernansky, published June 19, 2018. The article addressed concerns that eating from baby food pouches could stunt oral development. ASHA members Amy Delany, Kara Larson and Melanie Potock served as sources.

• The Hearing Journal: For An Evolving Dialogue on Popular Technology Use, published in May 2018. ASHA President Elise Davis-McFarland wrote about ASHA’s efforts through the years to educate the public about safe popular technology use.

• Portland Press Herald (Maine): For its July 25, 2018 article, A little din with your dinner? Too much noise can spoil even the best meal. Reporter Merideth Goad wrote about growing concern over potentially harmful levels of noise in restaurants.

Digital Media

• Vox: For its noise pollution series from April through July 2018 by Julia Belluz. Vox identified noise-induced hearing loss as a public health threat, and interviewed multiple ASHA members for its five-article series on the issue.

• Momtastic: For its article Does Your Toddler Need Speech Therapy? by Sarah Cottrell. Cottrell interviewed ASHA member Jessica Wilbur about childhood speech and language milestones and early signs of communication disorders.

• 30Seconds: For its post, Speech & Language Services in Schools: What Parents Should Know From the ASHA. The post provided parents with information about the services of school-based speech-language pathologists.

Broadcast Media

• Doctor Radio – Sirius XM: For its May 9, 2018 interview with Diane Paul, ASHA Director of Clinical Issues in Speech-Language Pathology. Paul spoke about the importance of early detection of communication disorders, along with the results of recent polling of ASHA members that indicated parents are largely unaware of the warning signs of communication disorders in children.

• NJTV News With Mary Alice Williams (a program of the New Jersey PBS Network): For its July 25, 2018 broadcast about early warning signs of communication disorders. Lauren Wanko interviewed ASHA President Elise Davis-McFarland, who warned that undiagnosed speech, language, hearing or swallowing disorders in small children can lead to lasting communication disorders.

ASHA's Member Media Outreach Champions for 2018

• Amy L. Delaney, Ph.D., CCC-SLP: Delaney has served consistently as an information source on the subject of children’s swallowing for media outlets. Recently she has been interviewed by the parenting website Fatherly for an article about appropriate sippy cup use and by The New York Times for a story on baby food pouches.

• Tina Penman, AuD, CCC-A: Penman has regularly contributed timely hearing advice to various media outlets. Recently, she appeared in a broadcast by KXL News, Portland, Ore., about hearing safety during Independence Day celebrations that include fireworks. She also wrote an op-ed about the potential dangers of loud noise in health clubs, which she promoted widely online. She has also been interviewed by AARP the Magazine, which has one of the largest circulations among publications of its kind.

• Adrienne Hancock, MS, CCC-SLP: Hancock has long served as an information source on voice and gender topics for media outlets, especially with regard to voice modification for transgender clients. Most recently, she spoke to The Washington Post about how voice training contributes to a sense of safety for clients. A related in-depth feature in The New York Times also quoted her.

Learn more about the ASHA at ASHA.org.