Virtually every child born in the United States gets a hearing test. We have Marion Downs, in part, to thank for that. Her work at the University of Colorado changed people’s minds about when a child should be tested. Today, that hearing test is sophisticated and involves headphones and brain measurements. Back when Marion Downs started out, she would stand over a crib and honk a horn or use a squeezy toy in hopes of startling an infant. Marion Downs is now 97, and the hearing center at the University of Colorado School of Medicine bears her name. The hope is to build a larger center by the time she turns 100. (Originally aired Nov. 15, 2011)
[Photo: The Marion Downs Hearing Center]
