Meet Dr. Maggie Dewan-Mandle | Pediatric and Educational Audiologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Maggie Dewan-Mandle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Maggie, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I graduated summer of 2021 from my doctoral of audiology program. Soon after I started working as an audiologist for two different centers. One was the local pediatric hospital and the other was essentially a contract company supplying services for local school districts. I enjoyed what I did but never felt I was living out my dreams as an audiologist. I felt like something was missing and started researching what else I could do within the field of audiology. In December 2021, I was deeply unhappy with where I was at career wise. I knew I had just started, but, I felt like I had one foot in one spot and the other in a total different area. I couldn’t focus and felt like a failure after all the schooling and focus it took to become an audiologist. One day I happened upon an article about providing at-home audiology services to children. It was something I rarely heard of anyone doing before and honestly didn’t know it was possible. At a similar point in time I began educating myself on different communities and their needs. The home birth community stood out and I quickly realized they were missing something pretty significant- the newborn hearing screening. Because it is not currently required in my state, many children who are born at home do not end up receiving the newborn hearing screening. This is important because it detects hearing loss at a very early age, so that steps can be taken to either pursue hearing aids or cochlear implants, or learn sign language. Either way, it helps to identify which children are at risk for delayed communication development and hopefully prevents this from happening.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a pediatric and educational audiologist. I also own my own business providing at-home newborn hearing screenings and educational audiology services in several districts. My job is pretty unique because there are not that many of me and most people don’t realize there’s an audiologist that can work in a school setting! I work with students who have some type of hearing loss or auditory processing disorder. My job is to piece together their medical information along with school difficulties (if any) and advocate for the student to receive any services or extra technology to help them thrive in school. I think it’s cool because I know I am just one small part of the puzzle, and working closely with other professionals such as SLPs, Psychologists and teachers to figure out what will help the student thrive academically and socially is so rewarding! It was not easy to get to where I am today, but it was absolutely worth the risk. I absolutely adore working with newborn babies and their families as well. There is a huge educational component to that as well. It’s exciting to always feel I am learning and growing each day. No day is the same, which definitely keeps it interesting.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to my family and friends for always encouraging me to pursue my dreams. I truly would not be here without you all!

Instagram: DrMaggieAud

Youtube: Dr. Maggie Audiologist

Image Credits
Lauren Denti