(Dec. 15, 2008) About 60 youngsters and 200 folks total celebrated the holidays a little early at the Marion Downs Hearing Center holiday party. The third annual event was for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families.

The gathering doubled in size from last year, reported Erika Matich, media relations coordinator at University of Colorado Hospital. “The kids were anywhere from toddlers to 12 year olds,” she said. “There were kids with hearing aids and deaf kids, kids who sign and kids who speak and some that use a combination. There were also adults with varying preferences of communication celebrating the holidays.”

Signing Santa visited with the children to get their holiday wish lists. Santa also participated in a signing “sing” along for signing and speaking children with hearing loss. Kids of all ages decorated (and ate) holiday cookies as part of the festivities and families got the latest news from organizations that support the deaf and hard of hearing.

The event was sponsored with Colorado Families for Hands & Voices and the Early Literacy Development Initiative and the gathering is a chance for families to get in the holiday spirit, meet new friends and get reacquainted with old ones.

The Marion Downs Hearing Center at the University of Colorado Hospital brings together clinical, research and educational support and prevention services for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is named for Marion Downs, UCD professor emeriti and world-renowned audiologist. Downs pioneered the first newborn hearing screening project in the United States more than 30 years ago at the University of Colorado Hospital. For more information, visit www.mariondowns.com.