16th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
February 26-28, 2017 • Atlanta, GA
EHDI FAMILY LEADERSHIP AWARD
Yuliana Trujillo
Yuliana Trujillo has provided exemplary leadership in the state of Texas through her outreach and support for EHDI parents who are Spanish-speaking. She is the mother of three, including her thirteen year-old daughter, Yanin, who is deaf.
Yuliana was a well-established advocate and parent guide with the Texas Hands & Voices Guide by Your Side program when she was selected to be a team member on the state's pilot of the Follow Through Guide Project for families who had failed to transition to diagnosis and early intervention. The project is completing its third year and has become a model for other states, and Yuliana's commitment has been a primary factor. In the past three years as a Follow Through Guide Yulina has personally connected with nearly one thousand EHDI families. She explains test results, helps families identify next steps, addresses concerns, and shares her story.
For many of the families who speak primarily Spanish, Yuliana provides information in a clear way for the first time. Her commitment to these families includes follow up phone calls, connecting with providers, and informing the state coordinator of barriers to an often underserved population. Yuliana is fully invested in the families she connects with, and nearly every week comes to our team meeting with another story to share about a family who either needs support or has found their way. She thrives on the opportunity that she must make a difference for other parents, particularly those who do not speak English and who are challenged by limited resources.
Yuliana also has helped coach state leaders on how to more effectively engage these families, from the language that they use, to the resources that they provide, to how to use technology effectively. She has developed relationships with providers in early intervention in order to facilitate connections to families. She is working on guidelines for screeners to ensure that families who are non-English speaking have access to interpreting during the identification process.
Yuliana also moderates a Facebook site for Spanish speaking families in Texas who are deaf and hard of hearing facilitating ongoing family-to-family support and sharing information and resources with the Hispanic community. Yuliana's efforts have made her a leader within Texas, and she also represents the Latino community as a selected member of National Hands & Voices committee on serving Spanish-speaking families. The EHDI system in Texas is better because of Yuliana Trujillo, and she has been a primary agent in changing the trajectory for hundreds of babies who are deaf and hard of hearing and born into wonderful, loving families who happen to speak Spanish.