This website has been made possible by CHOICES Delaware.
Choices Delaware (s
hort for Making Language CHOICES Available to Delaware Families of Children with Hearing Loss) is a grassroots organization consisting of a core project team of nine individuals with a range of expertise in language development, hearing loss, and education. Two members have deaf children. Two others have the personal experience of severe-profound hearing loss. Thirteen other individuals have provided information and/or the financial support that made this web site possible.
Core Team
Beatrice (Bebe) Ross Coker, B.S.
Bebe Coker is a longtime advocate for quality public education for all children. A graduate of Morgan State University, she has worked in the fields of social services, public and community relations. and diversity training. She is a playwright, poet, and lyricist. Her plays have appeared locally and off-broadway. Now retired from fulltime employment, she co-directs the Delaware Black Heritage Educational Theater Group and chairs the Stagehands of Christina Cultural Arts Center in Wilmington. Ms. Coker is the proud mother of a U.S. navy registered nurse, a Delaware ear, nose, and throat physician, and the senior vice-president of the Philadelphia Convention Center.
Nicholas J. Fina, Ed.D.
Dr. Fina, the project lead and principal investigator for CHOICES Delaware, is an independent educational consultant with interests in issues related to disability in the workplace and higher education. He is vice-president of the Hearing Loss Association of Delaware, a member of the State Council for Persons with Disabilities, and an adjunct instructor in the University of Delaware School of Education. He wears a hearing aid and a cochlear implant as a result of a progressive, lifelong hearing loss.
Roberta M. Golinkoff, Ph.D.
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff holds the H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education at the University of Delaware and is also a member of the Departments of Psychology and Linguistics. An author of 12 books and numerous professional articles, Dr. Golinkoff founded and directs the Infant Language Project, whose goal is to understand how children learn language.
Linda S. Heller MA, CCC-A.
A practicing educational and rehabilitation audiologist for more than 25 years, Linda Heller is now a health, aging, and disabilities consultant and advocate. Recognizing that people with hearing loss need training and support after they obtain a hearing aid, she founded the Delaware Chapter of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (now the Hearing Loss Association of Delaware) and remains on the HLADE Board of Directors. Linda also represents HLADE on many boards and councils for people with disabilities, She has a lifelong hearing loss.
Ellen Z. Hall, R.N.
Ms. Hall is the mother of two children, one of whom was born profoundly deaf.
Thierry Morlet, Ph.D.
Dr. Morlet is the Head of the Auditory Physiology and Psychoacoustics Laboratory at A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children. He is also affiliated with the University of Delaware Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Clinical implications of his research include diagnosis and management of children with Auditory Processing Disorders, children presenting with Auditory Neuropathy/Dys-Synchrony,Friedreich Ataxia, and of children with various inner ear malformations.
Mia A. Papas, Ph.D.
Dr. Papas is an adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Drexel University School of Public Health. She is a principal author on six peer-reviewed articles and has contributed to over 30 pupblications describing studies of early childhood growth deficiency, overweight adolescents, and adherence to cancer screening guidellines. She is the mother of two toddlers, one of whom became profoundly deaf shortly after birth.
Eileen Reynolds, M.S., CCC-A.
Ms. Reynolds has been a passionate advocate for the needs of children and families affected by hearing disorders for over 25 years. She has worked in clinical, state, and educational settings. She and is currently Delaware licensed and certified in Educational Audiology, Special Education and Education of Students with Hearing Loss. She works as an itinerant support specialist and helps students, families, and teachers succeed in local inclusive schools.
Susan D. Sahadevan, B.S.
Ms. Sahadevan has been a classroom teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing in Maryland and Delaware for more than 20 years. She currently works as an itinerant teacher in the Red Clay School District.
Michael Teixido, M.D.
Dr. Teixido is an otolaryngologist with a special interest in medical and surgical conditions that affect hearing and balance. He actively advances the study and understanding of problems involving hearing, balance and general otolaryngology through his participation in many national professional organizations and through frequent lectures to his professional colleagues and the public. He is the director of the Delaware Otologic Medicine and Surgery Fellowship, director of the Balance and Mobility center of Christiana Care, and co-director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant and Auditory Rehabilitation Program of the duPont Hospital for Children. Dr. Teixido teaches regularly at Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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