In Marion Downs’ world, you can never be too young. Or too old.\
Downs is recognized worldwide as one of the earliest advocates of hearing testing in infants. In the early 1950s at the University of Denver, Downs, an audiologist, and Doreen Pollack, her associate, routinely tested babies for severe hearing loss within the first three months of life.
“Being mothers who had raised young children, Doreen Pollack and I had plenty of experience working with infants. It was very clear to us what – or who – we needed to be focusing on,” says Downs.
She is a true pioneer in the field of newborn hearing screening. “In the field of audiology, Marion Downs was the first audiologist to believe that it was possible to identify hearing loss in infants and to understand the importance of early identification in the infant period,” says Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Colorado in Boulder. “Many people did not understand the importance of early identification of hearing loss and just as many believed it could not be done. But Marion pushed the idea at every opportunity; she paved the way for the establishment of universal newborn hearing screening.”
Using only electronic sounds in those early days, Downs and Pollack were able to identify infants with hearing loss and start them on early habilitation with hearing aids. They soon discovered that the earlier they applied hearing aids to a child with hearing impairment, the better was the child's language and speech development. For Downs, “earlier” meant “at birth” – a concept that many of her colleagues were slow to accept – and she began testing newborns at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 1961.
There was another challenge. Hearing aids for infants were enormous, consisting of two eight-by-three-inch instruments that were connected to an ear mold, which, in turn, was connected to a tube that fit behind the ear. A strap wound behind the neck and the entire bulky apparatus was worn around the chest. This, says Downs, was unacceptable.
“We demanded hearing aids for both ears – binaural hearing,” she says. Eventually, her insistence paid off. One company, Vicon, developed a hearing aid that featured two separate microphones and implementations for each ear in one instrument. In the 1960s, microchips were invented that allowed for smaller hearing aids that fit behind the ear.
Even though Downs was testing infants half a century ago, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that neurologists proved that babies should be able to hear from birth on. “The brain does not develop without auditory input,” Downs explains. “After the first few months, the neuronal connections for hearing actually drop off (die) if not stimulated, which makes identifying hearing loss in the early months so critical for developing auditory perceptions.”
Her crusade to provide solutions for everyone with hearing loss resulted in the Marion Downs National Center for Infant Hearing in Aurora, Colo., for which she continues to fundraise and organize events as an active member of the board of directors. Downs’ special project at the moment is raising funds to build the new hearing center at the Fitzsimons Campus of the University of Colorado. This center, says Downs, will be the largest medical center in the country and the only place in the United States where all hearing-related issues, from birth to old age, can be addressed under one roof.
The daunting multi-million-dollar undertaking hardly fazes Downs, whose fiercely competitive nature has served her well throughout her life. “I play to win!” she laughs. And win she does. Her most recent book, Shut Up and Live! (you know how) – A 92-Year-Old’s Guide to Getting There reveals that this great-grandmother (22 “greats” and counting) is more likely to be found playing competitive tennis, skiing and weightlifting than sitting around the house knitting sweaters. At 89, Downs participated in the Danskin triathlon in Colorado. She celebrated her 90th birthday by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. As a routine mental workout, Downs attacks the New York Times crossword puzzle every day, plays bridge and, of course, continues to advocate passionately for advances in hearing, audiology and statewide healthcare reform.
Promoting her new book has become a job in itself. Since it made the bestseller list in Colorado, Downs has been busy with book signings and other promotional events. Shut Up and Live! is a departure from her more clinical subjects (her Hearing in Children is now in its fifth edition) and is a personal compendium of straightforward, practical advice from a down-to-earth, often irreverent woman who loves life – and who has made living into an art form. Downs directs her commentary to seniors (and those about to be seniors), candidly discussing everything from exercise to medical issues, spirituality to sex. And with a range like that, you can bet that there is a good dose of humor throughout.
“I think that if you make it into the 90s, you’re sort of ‘home free’,” says Downs with a chuckle. “I can’t believe that at 92 I’m still living between photo finishes!”
Those who know this dynamo find it easy to believe. Whether they call her “Dr. Downs,” “Granny” or just “Marion,” they would no doubt agree that Downs has been, and continues to be, a powerful inspiration to both the very young and the young at heart.
